Into the Darkness
by Ariel4891
Summary: Kanjou. The name sends shivers down the spines of all who hear this deadly assassins name. He is lethal and silent. But this time his prey got away, only there is one thing about him they didn't expect...he will stop at nothing to make his kill. Zutara.
1. Entering the darkness

**Hey guys! I'm in a joyous mood today! Want to know why? Its because finals are over! Yup, that means no more studying...and I can have my social life back! So lets all celebrate together with this new story!**

**Tmeline: I wrote this all during the great avatar depression (after season 3 finale), so this all takes place after season 2, but before season 3.

* * *

**

**Into the Darkness

* * *

**

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"I hate days like this." I mumbled under my breath. The humid air blew into my already tangled hair making an even worse mess. I tried to smooth it down with my hands, but it wouldn't relent.

I licked my cracked lips and sighed. We had been traveling for a couple days now, but it already felt like a week. We were running low water, so my throat was parched; every thing seemed to be working against me today.

I was utterly miserable, but at least I was keeping this all to myself though; I had not yet uttered a single complaint. Well, not a big one at least. I only complained about the lack of water, but that is understandable, everyone was thirsty.

"This is the worst weather I've seen since we were stuck in that desert." Sokka complained loudly as he tried to wipe away as much sweat as possible.

Ignoring him as usual, I looked around to see if anyone was doing anything that might be interesting. Sokka was swinging his boomerang around like an idiot; with every spiral it came closer and closer to his face without him even realizing it. I was waiting for the moment when It would collide with his forehead. A few seconds later, I got me wish, it hit him right on his left temple and he cried out in pain. I couldn't contain my laughter. Toph was gazing out into the distance with her unseeing eyes, humming a tune that sounded strangely familiar, but I couldn't remember what it was for the life of me. Aang was acting strangely agitated, flying with a scowl on his face that was not normal for him.

"You would think that we would get some kind of breeze up here considering we are FLYING! Gosh Appa…cant we go any faster?!" Sokka said rubbing the red welt that had formed on his temple.

Suddenly Sokka got his breeze; a huge gust of wind knocked Sokka on his back. I looked up at Aang, who was seething with anger. "Will you shut up? I don't like this any more than you do!" That shocked me; Aang was usually calm and serene. I couldn't blame him though; the depressing weather was making everyone on edge.

The earth below us was cracked with lack of water. I looked out into the distance and saw nothing but a few scattered bushes and cacti. No trees, that means there's no water either. This is going to be a very long trip. Usually, in cases like this, I would practice bending, but with no water…

I lay down on Appa's saddle, hoping to make this trip faster by taking a long nap.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

_I was tied up to a tree; I clearly felt the bark of the tree through my dress. "Go jump in the river!" I cried out as Zuko paced in front of me._

_Zuko looked down thoughtfully_

"_Try to understand, I need to capture him to restore something I've lost. My honor. Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." He said as he paced around the tree. The ghost of his breath dancing on my neck. I shivered automatically. I could do nothing but glare at him, and then I noticed he was dangling something blue in front of me. My necklace…_

"_My mother's necklace!" I said as I struggled to get rid of the ropes that bound my arm._

Suddenly my dream changed…

_The wind calmly blew through my hair as if I was falling slowly through clouds. I opened my eyes and found myself diving into a huge lake. It felt wonderful to have my element swirling around me as I sank down to the bottom of the lake._

_I relaxed and opened my eyes. Fish were swimming lazily; I propelled myself toward the surface. As my head bobbed up to the surface I saw Aang and Sokka laughing at some private joke. Toph was lazily flinging boulders twenty feet away with just a flick of the wrist, she looked bored so I decided to try and make things more exciting for her. I giggled as I thought of a plan to get Toph wet. I swam up to the shore right next to Toph being as quiet as I could, readying my small wave-_

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I awoke with start and looked around to see what could have possibly awoken me from my dream. I found nothing. My stomach growled loudly and I almost laughed. I was only hungry. I reached for my bag of food and dug around for some fruit until I found some. I bit into a moon peach, letting the juices drip down my chin. The juice did wonder on my dry throat.

I remembered my dream. I couldn't figure out why I was dreaming about zuko. It's not like I've thought about him much lately, why would I have reason to? Ever since Ba Sing se, I have tried to block him from my memory. It's been a while since then, maybe he gave up? I almost slapped myself at that stupid thought. Zuko never gives up.

I gazed over the edge of Appa's saddle. None of the scenery has changed since the last time I looked. "How long will it take to get to another town?" I asked Aang with a sigh.

"Couple more hours…" Aang answered dryly.

I looked at the food we had left and felt my stomach grumbled again. "We only have 3 moon peaches and a handful of leachy nuts left…and something that looks like a rock." I said as I threw it over the saddle.

"Well, if ponytail over here wouldn't eat all of our food, then maybe we wouldn't have to go into a town every other day." Toph said as she bended a rock from the dusty air and tossed it at the sleeping Sokka's head. Sokka grunted and rolled over as if he was a little kid told to get up and do his morning chores.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Stupid tea..." I mumbled under my breath as I cleaned up another spill caused by a teenage girl. As I bent over I felt her eyes trailing to my butt. I stood up and with a glare, stomped my way to the back room. "Stupid shop..." I said loudly as I entered the storage room to dispose of the broken cup. I tossed the broken shards roughly into the trash can and grabbed a new cup.

Ever since I broke my uncle out of prison, we've been traveling from town to town.

Uncle had been happy that he found a place to settle down, but I sure wasn't. Ever since I got here, I had been miserable. I had given up on the avatar, my uncle and I had opened a shop with a little apartment on the second floor in a small town I didn't even know the name of. All I knew was that it was somewhere in the earth kingdom, I hadn't bothered to find out the name because we, or at least I, didn't plan on staying that long. But knowing my uncle, he would make us stay here until I died. I felt a chill go up my spine at just the thought of it.

It was already dark out, and I was tired of serving tea. I thought about leaving and finding a nice place to meditate, but my uncle trusted me to take care of the shop.

I heard the service bell ring from atop the counter followed by a girlish giggle, I sighed a frustrated sigh. _That's it, _I thought to myself, _I'm going to close shop early then find a quiet place to meditate._

It was dark and chilly outside by thi time I started to sweep up. "Gosh, why couldn't it be as hot as it was an hour ago?" I asked to no one in particular. I grumbled to myself and stalked back inside.

I didn't want to go out on such a cold night. Who needs hypothermia? Anyway, Iroh would be back soon, and he wouldn't be very happy if he came back to an empty shop. I walked back inside and went back to the counter.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Finally!" Toph yelled a little louder than necessary "There's a fruit tree about 20 feet that way, go get me food!" she yelled as she pointed to a cluster of tightly packed trees.

"How can you tell?" Aang and Sokka said at the same time. They both looked at each other and laughed like it was the funniest thing that ever happened to them. Those two seemed to get a little dumber each day.

"The bees." Toph said simply then started to flap her arms around in a bee like fashion as if they weren't mentally competent enough to know what a bee is. "Vibrations." I thought I heard her say 'idiots' but it could have just been the wind.

"I'm going off to find a lake or something." I said as I felt my water skin, it was empty. I would have to find a bigger water skin next time we were in a town.

"Do you need me to come with you?" Sokka asked as he stretched his stiff muscles.

"Why would I need you to come?" I asked.

"Well no offence Katara, but you're not the best hand to hand fighter in the world…"

"Excuse me! I can take care of myself!" I snapped at him. Usually I would have more patience, but today had been horrible. The weather had been hot and my patience had been worn thin a long time ago. All thanks to Sokka I might add.

"I'm just looking after my little sister" Sokka said with his hands in front of him as if he was trying to protect himself.

"Well I don't need your help; I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a waterbending master!" I yelled at him.

"Katara…" Aang said with a scared look on his face.

"Don't start with me Aang…don't come with me, don't follow me, and don't come looking for me either. I'll come back whenever!"

I stormed out of camp seething with anger. Why did they always have to be so damn protective? I bet I could beat both of them in a duel. I'm a master, I could definitely beat them.

As I walked, my anger seemed to slowly subside until I felt guilty about the whole argument. It wasn't Sokka's fault; he was just acting like a brother should. Even though I didn't need his protection, it still made me happy to think about how much Sokka cared about me. Sokka isn't the type of brother that would show affection, so I guess that it is good that he doesn't want me to get hurt.

Eventually, I started feeling the familiar pull of my element guide me into the water. I looked down at my dusty dress and thought about how horrible I must smell. One sniff and I knew it was true. I missed the days when I could take a bath daily, but now since were traveling; we don't have time to bathe.

When I finally reached my destination, it was breathtakingly beautiful. It was so colorful; wild flowers of every color surrounded the bank of the crystal clear river. The trees that had the greenest leaves that I had ever seen, it was like they were straight out of a book. I twirled around breathing in all of the different scents. I giggled like a little girl as I lost my balance and fell. Acting like a kid must have been the thing I needed because I was happy and relaxed as I stumbled my way back to my feet.

I felt the urge to take a quick dip in the lake, I've been flying all day in the dusty wind and hot sun all day, if that isn't a good reason to take one, then I don't know what is. I looked around to make sure I was all alone before I did anything else. The trees seemed menacing, but I was comforted by the fact that I was surrounded by my native element. I sighed as I stripped off my smelly clothes until I was just in my breast bindings and leggings. Walking up to the shore, I scanned the trees one last time just to be safe. Nobody was there, so I dipped my toe into the crystal clear water to see how cold it was. The water was surprisingly warm from the constant sunlight it experienced thorough the day. I sighed as I started walking into the water. Wading knee deep, I started to bend a thin ribbon of water. I snaked it thorough my hair, and around my body trying to get the dirt off.

Suddenly there was a rustling sound coming from the trees behind me. I readied a water whip as I tensed and spun around. Nothing was there. I slowly turned around and got back into the rhythm of my little water dance. I was so engrossed in my dance that I didn't sense the tattooed man sneaking up behind me.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

The mans cat-like movement was swift and silent. He threw a rock at a nearby tree and waited. She spun around with a water whip at the ready and scanned the forest for any hint of movement. He smirked as he assessed her slow reaction. And he wasn't impressed.

He remained quiet as he closed in on the girl.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

The water was dancing around me as if it were a ballerina in a ballet just for me. I brought it up and down, then around my legs. I closed my eyes and let myself slip into a peaceful state of bliss. I spun around gracefully.

Just as I completed my turn, someone hit me hard in my chest. My eyes snapped open as I staggered backwards and tried not to fall. I didn't see if he used his hands or his foot,in fact I didn't see him at all, I only knew that one minute I was dancing, and the next a blow struck my chest- I felt myself flying backwards and then heard a thud as my head crashed into a tree. I was too stunned to feel the pain. I couldn't breathe yet. I couldn't even move.

He walked toward me slowly.

"HE-" I tried to scream as he kicked me to the ground. I silently cursed myself for not having Sokka come like he had suggested. I tried to water whip him in the head, but he was too fast and dodged it easily.

With speed I didn't know possible, his foot stomped down on my leg. I heard the snap before I felt it. But then I _did_ feel it, and I couldn't hold back my scream.

"Oh no, did I break my little waterbender?"

I looked into the face of the man and screamed, but not because of pain. He had large scars everywhere on his face. It looked like part of his nose missing, and it was bent at a weird angle, like it had been broken a few times. He also had a tattoo snaking around his arm; it was a crude picture of a snake eating a bird. He saw my reaction and smiled a toothy smile full of rotting teeth. He licked his teeth and raised his lips in a snarl.

I couldn't concentrate enough to bend water, I was too scared. I got up and tried to run, actually hop, away but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back. I heard a snap and then felt a blinding pain surge through my wrist. Now I could only bend with one hand. The man must have noticed this because he let go of my broken wrist and, with his free hand, started to grab at my bindings. I raised his arm to my mouth and did the only thing I could think of, I bit him as hard as I could. He grunted as if he had merely been bitten by an annoying mosquito. The last thing I remembered was him raising his arm to strike.

And then into the darkness I went...


	2. Her savior

"I hate tea." I grumbled as I picked up shards of a broken tea cup someone dropped. I could feel the eyes of the girl, who dropped the cup, on my butt…again. I turned around and noticed that it was the same girl from earlier. She smiled and winked at me. I growled at her and stomped away.

"I hate this shop!" I said louder as I slammed the door to the storage room…again. I felt a pattern coming on.

Uncle had bought this pointless shop with the little money we had earned from various jobs (and what we had stolen from Azula before we left…). But I wish he hadn't. I hate this stupid town. It seemed that all of the teenage girls in this town like to come to our shop just to make my life miserable. This must be their favorite form of entertainment. They are incredibly good at it; they make me want to pull out my hair. Every glance at me, every wink, and every damn dropped cup made me want to strangle someone. If uncle weren't here…well, lets just say what I wouldn't be so nice to them. It's not like I haven't tried to be civil with them before, I've tried to be nice so that maybe they would leave me alone, but it backfired and seemed to made them want me even more. My logic was obviously flawed.

I looked out the window and decided that it was finally time to close shop. Well almost time to do it at least. I went inside and rudely kicked all of the girls out for the night. Uncle would have frowned at my behavior, but they would be back. They always came back.

I decided to go and meditate like I wanted to earlier.

I munched on an apple I picked off of a tree as I headed further and further into the dense forest. I was intent on going as far as I could until I found total and complete silence. I didn't know how far I traveled; but eventually my legs started to get tired. "What do I do now?" I asked myself out loud. "I've given up on the only thing that has been keeping me going for the last three years, and now all I've got to look forward to is a tea shop…" _at least I'm allowed a room upstairs...and uncle isn't nosy so I can basically do whatever I want_ At that thought I had to laugh aloud. Uncle? Not nosy? Ha!

I heard a large animal thundering toward me through the forest. I sighed and moved off the path and hid myself in the thick underbrush so I wouldn't get crushed. A large rhino crashed through the trees. The man on the animal beckoned it to stop and rest. The animal obeyed and stopped twenty feet from me. He patted the animal on the back and started unloading some things from the animal. "Just rest, you deserve it, you covered these few miles pretty fast really quickly." I heard him tell the rhino as he patted it on the neck. He took down a bundle of wood and started making a fire. I knew I should probably leave; the man didn't look very friendly. He would probably get very angry if he found me. I was just about to crawl out of my hiding spot and continue on my journey, but then he got up and took a young lady off of his rhino.

I raised my eyebrows questioningly. Why the hell would he have a young lady slung on the back of his rhino? The lady hung limply from his arms. She looked unconscious. It was then that the wheels started turning in my mind. A young unconscious lady slung on the back of an animal. An animal that had apparently had to travel really quickly. My suspicions were confirmed when he threw her roughly on the ground. I could see the red of blood on her dark skin and bruises forming on her body. He kneeled down next to her and started undoing her white breast bindings.

I couldn't help but think that this wasn't happening. I decided I couldn't just sit here while that man took advantage of the young womenI unsheathed my swords and quietly approached the man. But, unknown to me, the man heard my every movement. I advanced on the tattooed man with as much stealth as I could muster. My feet made no noise as I tiptoed toward him.

"You have got to be kidding me if you think you're being sneaky..." The man said as he finally got her bindings free. I froze and my heart started beating wildly.

The man dropped the girl and started to advance on me.

_That idiot,_ zuko thought as he flashed his swords at the tattooed man. _Doesn't he realize I have the advantage here?_

The man smiled and pulled out two thin hook swords from a holder that I hadn't seen before. He swung them around as he got into a fighting position. "After I'm finished with you, I'm going to have my way with her." The man said. At the last word he waved a dagger in her direction.

"Don't you have any honor?!" I practically spat at him in disgust. I was experiencing a mix of emotions; disgust, sympathy, and horror.

_This man needs to be taught a lesson_, I thought as I charged the man. I brought my swords up in a slashing movement and then back down again. I then proceeded to swing my swords in a dance like movement, all while slowly getting closer to the man. I slashed at the man, but the man was too fast. He kicked my feet out from under me.

I growled and quickly jumped back onto my feet. I came at him and swung at his neck. He bent backwards until his head was a foot from the ground and then sprang back up, hitting his head against mine. I staggered back. My head throbbed. My vision swirled a little as I righted myself. I would not have this man beat me. I won't let him.

"Enough of these cheap moves, why don't you at least keep your dignity and fight me like a man?" I yelled angrily at him.

"Alright then...you're on."

The swords quickly flew, slash after slash, and dodge after dodge with no inches to spare. Our swords were so sharp that with every new slash, a piece of clothing was cutthe battle was so intense that I was quickly tiring. He just smirked and continued easily. As we continued to fight, it looked like a dance, carefully choreographed to unleash the highest level of power possible. However, after a while of fighting, the tattooed man suddenly caught me off guard with an excellently placed jab and got me in the arm. I gasped in pain, and this was the opening the man was looking for. He slashed me again at my unscarred cheek. I tried to move out of the way, but he was too quick, the hooked sword cut me cheek.

I narrowed my eyes at the man and sprung at him with renewed vigor. Now I was getting tired and in doing so I were getting sloppy. The man just grinned at me and continued his onslaught.

We broke apart. There was a long pause where we both stood glaring at each other, my chest heaving with tiredness, waiting for each other to make the next move.

I couldn't take it anymore; I had to finish this fight fast or I would surely die. I charged at him and attacked his side. He blocked my move with both of his swords and he left an opening. I aimed for it, but the man kneed my in the stomach, knocking all of the air out of me. I fell to the floor and gasped for breath. He stood there and continued staring at me. It occurred to me that this man was just toying with me, I was doomed to die from the start.

No.

I will not die here. I have already been forced to give up so much already, but my life is something I will fight for until the end.

I sprung back to my feet and got back into a fighting position. I thought about using my firebending, but decided against it. I wanted to do this with my own power, something I had to work for. I had to work to get good in firebending, there was no doubt about that, but I inherited firebending from my father. Sword skill isn't something that can be inherited. This was something my father didn't have. This was something he didn't give me.

As I was about to charge at the man, and inevitably to my death, a miracle happened. The rhino, which had been happily grazing, started on a rampage. He turned to the animal, and I took my chance.

My other sword ripped through the tattooed man's abdomen. Attacking while a man was distracted was cheep, I know, but it was either that or death.

The tattooed man staggered back with a surprised look on his face, and landed with a dull _thud_ in front of a large boulder. The man was still breathing, but very slowly. But this didn't matter to meto me, the man deserved to die. I staggered over to the women side to see if she was ok. When I reached herI let out a strangled gasp. It was the waterbending wench who traveled with the avatar! What was her name…Katrina? Kamiah? He knew he must have heard it somewhere before… I thought of all of the times we have fought each other. "Katara!" I said at last.

"Why is it that every time I try to be good, shit like this happens?" I said under my breath. As I got up to leave, I felt a pang of guilt. _Is it really ok to leave her here? I thought to myself. What am I thinking?! This is the enemy!__  
_  
As I looked upon the unconscious body of my former enemy, my face turned tomato red. Her chest was totally exposed. The man must have done this. Trying not to look, I stripped off my shirt and, as carefully as I could, I put it on her. I bent down and examined her for injuries. It looked like she had a broken leg; also, something was wrong with her wrist. _I better get her to a bed so she can heal, I thought._ I carefully lifted her up in my arms bridal style I would have to thank my uncle later for all the intense training he had given me. Without the training, I would not be able to carry her.

I weaved myself through the trees, trying carefully not to knock Katara into a tree.

_I should take her back to the shop, but what if uncle sees me? _He had to be sleeping, it must be past midnight. The trip back to the tea shop was incredibly long. I silently cursed myself for going so deep into the forest. The forest was eerily silent as I approached the tea shop. I tried to take out my key, and with some difficulty I put it up to the hole and turned it. it came open with a snap and I cringed at the noise. I pushed open the door and it squeeked quietly. Wooden floors suck for sneaking. The floor boards were never louder, and her added weight didn't help much either. Every step I took just taunted me. It seemed with every step up the stairs, the floorboards would emit the loudest squeak I ever heard.

A large rustling sound came from the bathroom down the hall. I started getting nervous. _Why would uncle be awake? Oh god, what if he saw me right now?__Carrying an unconscious girl in my arms to my room? Oh crap, oh crap._ I quickly picked up my pace as he neared my room. Quickly setting the unconscious Katara on my bed, I quietly walked to the door and looked through the tiny crack between my door and the wall. Iroh groaned as he rubbed his eyes, slowly shuffling toward his room from the bathroom at the end of the hall. That was very close.

I lit a small candle, just enough to give me light, but not enough for someone to see from the hall way. I walked into the bathroom and got out the cream and bandages I would use on Katara's wounds. Slowly, creeping back to his room, I checked on my uncle, and luckily, he had fallen asleep again. Careful not to injure Katara, I began to check the full extent of her injuries. Katara seemed to have, other than the obvious broken leg and sprained wrist, a dozen or so large gashes on her arms, legs and stomach. A blush crept to my face as I realized I would have to touch all of these places to treat her. Swallowing my embarrassment, I began rubbing cream on a particularly nasty cut on her stomach. I was surprised to find out that besides her petite frame, she was still pretty muscular. _It must be from all the waterbending training she went through._

I subconsciously rubbed the back of my neck. After our little encounter at the North Pole, my neck and shoulders were sore for months.

I grabbed the bandages and asked myself how I was going to do this. I gently brought Katara to a sitting position. She was quite light now that I wasn't supporting all of her weight. After making sure she was in a position which would be easier for me to work with, I began the slow and tedious act of wrapping the bandages around her stomach, and other large cuts.

After what seemed like hours, I finished. I looked outside at the rising sun and suddenly remembered that I was expected to open shop.

"How am I going to get out of this one?" I thought out loud. Would pretending to be sick work? I would have to watch her somehow…I groaned and ran one hand through my hair in frustration.

I walked out my door and into Iroh's room. All the way there I was trying to get my facial expression to say 'I'm too sick and helpless to work today, please leave me alone in my room to sulk in peace.'

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"Let's see…jasmine is the most popular, but there's also white tea, and oolong tea… should I order more oolong? That ran out quickly yesterday…" Iroh mumbled to himself.

Iroh stroked his chin gently. Suddenly his thought process was interrupted by a week sounding knock at his door. _That can't be zuko,_ Iroh thought;_whenever he knocks I have to buy a new door…_

"Come in."

Iroh gasped in horror as a weak and tired looking zuko walked in the door.

"Uncle...?"

That was all zuko had to say- Iroh was up and rushing him back to his room in a split second. As they neared his room zuko stiffened.

"Uncle, I can go by myself!" zuko said in a childish wine.

"Teenagers…" Iroh sighed as he watched zuko walk back to his room.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"That was close…" I said to myself. Iroh almost found me out, if he would have walked inside, he surely would have seen the girl. I realized how risky keeping her here really is. I sat in my most comfortable chair as I settled in for a long night.


	3. Back to the light

**Hey guys! I hope you guys had a happy Valentines day yesterday! I was going to post a story yesterday (not this one though) but due to someone I wont mention cough Vimuku cough (Just kidding, I love you Vimuku, and I'm not mad at all! Your the best BETA ever!) it wasn't possible.**

**Ok, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!**

**I'll reply to some reviews right now cuz I have nothing better to do! YAY! **

**Vimuku: **OMG! Your cousin is the one who wrights those stories (wink wink) right? Anyways...yeah, Zuko's all about his pride and honor and stuff like that. He's stupid, but then again aren't all guys?**  
**

**LifeIsHard-chan: **You like my grammar! SWEET! Thank you, you make me feelbetter about it. I wont complain about it this chapter.

**katara's twin: **I hope I can make it good! I'll try not to make it one of those generic ones that are super predictable or something lame.**  
**

**ML7: **All will be found out in time. MUAHAHAhahaha!**  
**

**Meghan: **Who wouldn't give all of their attention to Zuko?? He is one sexy piece of man candy!

**Luiz4200: **Sweet, I hope i can keep it good.**  
**

**Genevieve: **Crap, I hope my question didn't keep you up at night...and I'm glad you like it!**  
**

**Mcfish: **YAY! I'm glad you like it so much, And here you go! Its friday, so here is your chapter!

* * *

The tattooed man smiled at me. His teeth yellow and rotting. I screamed and tried to run away. I looked around wildly to find a place to hide, but I grunted in frustration when I couldn't find anything, not even a bush. The man was right behind me; he reached out and almost touched me. I put on a sudden burst of speed and sprinted away from him. I was gaining a considerable lead when I suddenly tripped and fell. 

There was a pressure on my leg. My eyes snapped open and I cried out, gasping. I bolted upright and almost screamed in agony but a large callused hand closed over my mouth. I looked around expecting to see the forest and the tattooed man, but found myself instead in an unfamiliar room. The hand did not belong to the man who attacked me, but to the prince of the firenation instead. Zuko.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.O.o**

It wasn't her fault, really, I'm sure her injuries hurt like hell. She was having a bad dream and thrashing around like crazy. She jerked her leg, and her eyes snapped open with a cry of pain. I had to cover her mouth; her scream would have alerted uncle. And that would have been awkward. I mean, how would I explain his to uncle? There is a girl sitting on my bed, with _my_ shirt on, and she's screaming. That would lead to some very uncomfortable questions.

Unfortunately, when I covered he mouth, that seemed to make things worse. As she looked at the person the large hand belonged too, she looked terrified. Her eyes widened in fear. The expression on her face made it clear what she was thinking: 'What did you do to my friends?' Of course she would jump to conclusions and think that I killed her friends, and gave Aang to my father. She probably thinks that I am going to take advantage of her or something. Really, she would be lucky if I chose to bed her…

I gently took my hand off her gaping mouth and tried not to make any sudden movements. She might get scared and hurt herself again. I wouldn't want her to open up all of those cuts I worked so hard to bandage. Then I would have to fix her up all over again.

"I'm not going to hurt you, and I don't have your friends…" I tried to say reassuringly.

"What do you want with me?" Katara asked almost in a whisper.

"Well, well, well. I see a man trying to rape you, and then I get all these cuts saving you, carry you to my house, let you rest in my bed, dress your wounds and all you can say is 'what do you want with me?' this is why I don't like being nice! I give up on this avatar brat, and try to start new in this god awful town, and this is the thanks I get?!" My chest was heaving by the end of my little rant.

Comprehension seemed to dawn on her face as last nights activities reentered her mind.

"I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions like that, but what am I supposed to think? I wake up in a strange bed, and my enemy staring at me!"

"Listen…I'm not your enemy anymore. I'm just trying to have a normal life with my uncle and this god forsaken tea shop…"

"Were in a tea shop?"

"Yeah…so? We have an apartment above it."

Katara looked down in embarrassment. She was probably embarrassed for randomly asking about the tea shop thing. Well, at least I would be embarrassed about that… Suddenly her face turned a tomato red color. "Where's my shirt?" Katara asked. She folded her arms across her chest and looked down.

Now it was my turn to blush.

"Well after I beat the man…you were kind of topless…"

Zuko saw the growing look of horror on her face.

"But I didn't look; I just gave you my shirt. That's it, I promise."

Katara's blush faded slightly but it still didn't go away. "Thank you…"

Katara looked down with a strange look on her face.

"Um, Zuko?"

"What?" I said a little rougher than I meant to. I was still a little angry about her earlier lack of gratitude.

"Um…I really have to go to the bathroom…"

"Oh!" I blushed again. "Ok…um hold on."

I got out of my chair and quietly tiptoed my way to my door. I pushed it open and looked into the hall. I couldn't see uncle, but I wasn't taking any chance. If I get caught, uncle would probably kill me. I turned back toward Katara and mouthed 'stay here'. She looked at me strangely and then pointed to her leg as if to say 'It's not like I have any choice'. My eyes narrowed slightly as I walked silently into the hall. At any moment, uncle could pop out of nowhere and ruin everything. I crept to the stairs and peered into the tea shop. I could see uncle chatting away with two of the shops regulars. They were the ones who always broke things just so they could look at my but.

I contemplated throwing something at their heads, but I changed my mind. I walked back to my room and came to Katara. "Okay, lets go, but you have to keep quiet. Uncle doesn't know you're here."

I grabbed at Katara's arm, and she flinched away from me. My eyebrows knitted together in anger and confusion, but a second later I let my features slip into the mask I took years to prefect. This time I reached out my hand and she begrudgingly took it. "Let's hurry please." I said in a cool monotone. I kept my face in that blank mask as we went to my bedroom door. She was having trouble walking, thanks to the brace I put on her last night, so she had to rest most of her weight on me. We eventually made it to the bathroom and I opened the door for her. She looked at me gratefully and grabbed the sink for support. She closed the door silently.

I walked away from the door and back to the stairs. I could see Iroh entertaining all of his customers. He was one of those people that automatically became your friend, even if you haven't even talked to him. And thanks to this annoying talent, we got a lot of business. And I hated business. Especially when the 'business' was just about all teenage girls. I have only seen about three or four teenage boys in the shop, so maybe the reason they all cluster here, is because this town has a serious lack of boys. I got mad at Iroh for fitting in here, for liking it here, he belonged here. I didn't. I was just the boy who never talked to anyone. I was just the boy with the scar. The boy who would have been handsome if it weren't for that horrid scar. They didn't think I heard them whisper about me, but I did. I always hear it.

I breathed in deep, trying to calm myself.

I tried to distract myself by looking around. I could tell that Iroh tried to make this place seem 'homey'. But this was not my home. My home is gone, just like my honor. I narrowed my eyes at the vase of flowers sitting on the little table on the wall. I hated them. They represented my life here. I would stay here, like the flowers in the vase, until I wither away and die. I stalked over to the vase and took a flower from it. I started picking off all of the petals and once I had them all, I burnt them. The fire made the small dark hall become bright. The light revealed the happy green color of the walls. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to control myself. The last thing I wanted was to burn down the tea shop.

I started pacing. What was she doing in there? I suddenly stopped short. What if she already escaped? What if all of this time I was contemplating my horrible life, she was climbing out the window? I rushed to the bathroom door. But just before my hand touched the handle, the door swung open. I was somehow surprised to see that she was still here. I half expected her to be miles away by now. Then I saw her foot. I had to restrain myself from slapping my forehead. How could she have possibly crawled out the window, her freaking leg is still broken!

"What?" She asked when she looked at my expression.

"N-nothing."

"C'mon." I started walking back to my room. I heard a small cough from behind me.

"What?" I turned around.

"Can you help me back of something?" She asked through narrowed eyes.

I narrowed my eyes right back at her. I thought about just leaving her there and having her crawl to my room, but thought better of it. Uncle would not be pleased if he ever found out. And I sure hope he doesn't. I slowly made my way toward her. But in her impatience, she shifted her weight and lost her balance. I barely had enough time to reach her before she fell flat on her face. I grabbed her waist and hand, stopping her fall. I wouldn't want her to scream and alert uncle to her presence. At least, that's what I told myself.

"Thank you."

I grunted in response and started dragging her back to my room. I sat her back down on my bed and retreated back to my chair. We sat their in silence for a while. I stared intently at my side table and its contents. I don't know how long we sat there, but I didn't really care. I have no issues with silences. I welcome them actually. But apparently Katara didn't. She started fidgeting with my blanket. I ignored her and started meditating while still in my chair.

"Why are you helping me?" The question came out of nowhere and the surprise made my jump slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you could have left me there, but you didn't. You didn't have to take me here and treat my injuries…"

I shrugged my shoulders in response. "Would you rather me have left you there?" My eyes automatically narrowed slightly.

"No, but why did you do it?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a heartless jerk…" My eyes narrowed a bit more.

"Well…" Katara said looking away from me. "After Ba Sing Se I wasn't too sure…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" My eyes were now narrow slits. I looked at her face and she was still averting her eyes. She wouldn't look me in the eye, and maybe it's a good thing she didn't. It probably would have turned into a yelling match if she did. I clenched my hands into fists trying to control my temper. I couldn't yell, or uncle would be suspicious and come upstairs. I took a deep breath and relaxed my neck and back. I put my face into its usual expressionless mask. I opened my eyes and saw her staring at me.

"I don't think a good guy would lie to me, to everyone, and say they were good. Then turn around and attack us! Good people don't do that Zuko…" she said this very calmly in a cold voice. Her tone made me flinch inside.

"I was a different person back then." I tried to sound as honest and sincere as I felt.

"That was a month ago; don't expect me to be so trusting this time. Not again."

"I really have changed though, why do you think I'm here? Why do you think I'm not in the palace right now; and Iroh isn't in jail?" I lowered my voice, which had gotten very loud again. At this rate, uncle was sure to come up here. To me, it couldn't be any more obvious that I had changed. Did she think that we all just magically appeared here? I spent hours fighting guards during our breakout. I realized that all I wanted was some recognition for what I had done. I knew that I would probably not get it, but I needed it. I wanted her to acknowledge the good that I have done.

Katara's expression softened a bit. "I don't know Zuko. But I am very thankful that you saved me. I'm really reluctant to give you another chance."

I sighed and looked down at my hands.

"You hurt us, you hurt Aang, and you hurt _me._" Her voice was husky with emotion. I looked back at her and saw the pain in her face.

"I didn't know what I was doing. Azula is a master of manipulating people. She tells you exactly what you want to hear."

"I'll try to trust you Zuko, but please don't give me a reason not to."

I sighed in relief. "Thank you, that's all I ask for."

* * *

**Awww, how cute, she's going to try to trust him. I wonder how that will go...**

** So please review, it means the world to all authors.**

**Oh, and p.s.: I know I said I have a beta, but this story was not beta'd be her (thats why there are some mistakes, I also didn't have anyone beta my story Second Chance.) I usually only have her beta my more...um...mature fics. But I'll probably force**** (I'm talking at gunpoint here people...)**** her to do this one too. **


	4. The promise

I have two OC's in this chapter, but they are temporary, they wont play a major role in the plot.

While I was writing this I was listening to a lot of **Serj Tankian** and **Goldfinger**...

**ML7: **I'll try not to disappoint!**  
**

**kitkat.the.pirate: **Ha ha, thank you. I was trying really hard to get the Zuko down.

**crazy-gal-in-blue: **Your wish is my command...

**Mc fish: **Oh, they'll be angry all right...Zuko might do that on purpose just to get revenge, cups are expensive ya know?**  
**

**Vimuku: **Its ok, I still love you...

** Wicca in training: **Me too.**  
**

**kawaiiita...: **YAY! Cant wait to write more!

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o **

Zuko was being nice. Zuko, Nice? Wow, those were two words I thought I would use in the same sentence. Even when I was about to fall, after I came out of the bathroom, he caught me. When we got back in his room he told me he changed. I didn't believe him, but after he started talking…I didn't really want to give his a second chance, but then I started thinking about what Aang would have done. He would want me to try to be understanding, not to fight and argue. I looked at him, trying to decipher his true intentions, but saw nothing in his expression. But I thought that if I was going to stay with him for a while, at least until I heal, and then I might as well try to trust him.

A large bang interrupted my train of thought. I looked up just as the door swung open. Two figures stood in the doorway.

"LEE!!" a loud voice, that seemed to belong to a girl, called out. Zuko tensed up immediately. I could have sworn I heard him mutter a string of curse words, but it was too hard to tell.

"Hey guys…what are you doing here?" Zuko stretched his mouth into what _might_ resemble a smile, if it weren't for the fact that his eye twitched slightly in irritation.

"I just wanted to see my buddy Lee!" The stranger sang cheerfully.

"Um….who let you guys up?" Zuko asked, straining to keep his temper in check.

"Oh silly, it was Iroh of course."

It was then that the two figures stepped into the light. The first person I saw was a girl. She was tall and skinny to the extreme, with hair that went down to cover the top half of her face. She had a huge grin on the part of her face I could see. She wore a black corset like thing over her green shirt, and she had with a green, short, wrap around skirt over her pants. She also had a dagger attached to her right leg. I had a feeling she might be pretty too…if she would get her hair out of her eyes.

She skipped up to Zuko's side and slapped him playfully on the back. "That's for not coming over to my house yesterday; Iroh promised me you would…"

Zuko closed his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh.

The second person was a guy. The way he was standing made it seem like he was very shy. He had a slight smile on his lips; he was probably smiling at the girl's strange behavior. His outfit was all black, his shirt, pants and shoes. I didn't know it was possible to wear so much black. His shirt was neatly done up with seven or eight buckles. The only part of his outfit that wasn't black was the white bandages he uses to cover his arms and legs, with only about five inches of his arm showing. Both the girl and the boy looked to be about the age of seventeen.

The boy caught sight of me and softly asked, "Who is your friend?"

"Hey guys, Katara…this is Jeck," Zuko said pointing at the girl, and amazingly her smile doubled in size as she looked back and forth between me and Zuko, "and this is Tayote." He finished lamely pointing to the shy boy.

"Hi." I said at a loss for better words.

"I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend…" Jeck said. "Well, now you can come to the festival with us! Isn't that great Tayote?" I never knew it was possible for someone to smile so much. Jeck looked over to Tayote. I had to strain my ears to hear his answer, but it sounded like he said it sounded great.

"There's a festival?" I asked excitedly. I felt Zuko tense up for the second time that night. I glanced at him and saw that his eyes were very wide.

"You are in no condition to go to the festival." He said to me with a desperate look on his face.

"Are you kidding me? I'll be fine."

"I really don't think you should go. Cant you rest for another couple days?" he said through clenched teeth. I knew he didn't want to go to the festival, but it really sounded like fun to me. I haven't had fun in a very long time. Lately, it has just been so serious with our group. The only talking we did was about battle strategies and plans for the fire lord. Even Sokka didn't joke around as much any more. I was glad to have an excuse to let go and have some fun. And a town festival sounded like the perfect thing. Plus, there was surely going to be good food there, and I never turned down good food before.

"I'll be fine! Let's go, it sounds like fun."

"Well, it's decided then! We'll meet you tomorrow at sunset!" Jeck said as she grabbed Tayote's hand and hopped out of the room before Zuko could object any further.

I was still staring at the door where the strange couple exited, when I heard Zuko growl in frustration. "Why didn't you say that you were a healer earlier!?" He yelled with a very tired look on his face.

"I didn't think about it." I said truthfully.

"Are you telling me that through all that pain, you didn't once think to heal yourself?"

"Actually…yes."

"Well I hope your happy now! Jeck and Tayote are going to make me shop with them, play games, dance, and worst of all: Karaoke. I hate karaoke! Tomorrow is going to be hell."

"It won't be that bad. I'll try and make it fun for you, ok?" I said desperately trying to get him to go with me, if he didn't go, who else would help me around. I might not like him very much, but I still didn't want to have to crawl everywhere. Any company is better than no company. I know I could ask for help from Jeck and Tayote, but I didn't know them very well. Anyway, if they got along with Zuko, then maybe they aren't really the type of people I should associate with.

"Fine!" Zuko shouted, "I'll go if you shut up about it!"

"Excuse me?!" I almost yelled, but stopped myself at the last minute.

"Stop talking! Dear Agni, do you ever just leave things alone?"

"How dare you tell me to shut up!?!?!" I screamed back at him, "You're so stupid! You're just as mean as you've always been. Why did I ever think you changed?"

"I have changed." Zuko said loudly through clenched teeth.

"No you haven't! Your still stupid and arrogant, no wonder your own father banished you!" The words left my mouth automatically. Right when those words left my lips, I knew I made a huge mistake. I was just so angry at him that I said the first thing that popped into my mind.

Zuko looked like he had been slapped in the face, but surprisingly, he didn't say anything. Zuko just stared at me with a hurt expression. A moment later, his stoic expression returned.

"Zuko…I'm sorr-" I began, but he cut me off by raising his hand.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Zuko said softly before walking out of the room, leaving me alone and guilty.

I plopped down onto the bed tiredly and whispered "I'm an idiot."

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I awoke in the morning with the feeling that I had been sleeping for a long time. I sat up groggily and arched my back. It popped satisfactorily. I swung my legs over the edge of the bad and cried out in pain. I had forgotten about my broken leg. My eyes started watering and I wiped at them before tears appeared. I needed water to soothe my leg. I knew I couldn't heal the broken leg completely, but I could at least soothe the pain for now. Luckily there was a vase with some water in it only a few feet away. I quickly bent some of the water toward me and formed a healing glove. Placing the glowing water on my injuries, I began slowly breathing in and out, concentrating only soothing instead of healing. After a few minutes the pain was gone so I started to heal the minor injuries. After what seemed like a very long time, I was fully healed…well, except for my leg. I smiled to myself as I stretched and flexed my stiff muscles.

It wasn't until I finished stretching my back, that I saw Zuko standing in the doorway, holding a tray of food… and…wearing an apron. Wow… Zuko, the prince of the fire nation… in an apron. I was about to go into a serious fit of giggles, when I saw Zuko's face. It looked so much older than it did yesterday, like he hadn't slept at all. I started feeling terribly guilty again; he saved me and gave me a place to sleep, but I thanked him by insulting him.

Zuko walked toward me and placed the tray on his bedside table. I looked at and saw some golden toast, some bacon, and scrambled eggs. Off to the side of the plate was a steaming cup of tea. I picked up the cup and sniffed it. I smiled as the familiar scent of jasmine filled my nose. I looked up at him and smiled again, thanking him for the food. I eyed the apron as he sat down in his chair. I began to eat; actually scarfing the food down would be a better way of putting it. Oh dear gods, I was beginning to act like Sokka…

I sensed Zuko staring at me. "Zuko, I'm really sorry about last night." I paused and looked at him for a reaction. He did nothing but stare at me. "Sometimes my temper just gets out of control, I always hold so much in, and it just all comes out at once sometimes."

"Its ok, I shouldn't have reacted like that anyway." His face betrayed no emotion. I was starting to get really sick of that stoic expression. But I was at least happy that he made an effort not to yell at me.

"Can we still go to the fair today?" I asked casually.

"I don't go back on my promises."

"Yes! Thank you! What time should we go? We don't want to go too early…but if we go too late, it just won't be enough time…oh my gods…What am I going to wear?" I started babbling away but was interrupted by a scared looking Zuko.

"Wait…you want to go shopping?" He said slowly with his eyebrows scrunched together. A look of pure terror soon appeared on his face.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Shopping. Dear gods, she made me go shopping. I don't even know how she even convinced me into letting her drag me along? It was a big pain in the butt to get past Iroh too; all of this was really not worth it in my eyes. For all I cared, she could go to the fair in my shirt. But no, she needed a _nice_ outfit. I liked that shirt, it was nice. And I tried to tell her that too. She just mumbled something about wanting a girl's outfit. Why is it that I can't ever say no to people when I really need to?

So this is where I find myself, in a clothing store. The only thing I can do is staring at the wall opposite me, watching the design painted on the wall, counting the lines, finding all imperfections. If staring was a sport, then I would definitely be the world champion. I lost track of time, I seemed to be slowly loosing my sanity, all because of this stupid clothing store. I vaguely remember one of the stores staff helping Katara come out of the changing room a lot; they would go up to a large mirror, she look at herself, make a face, then the lady would help her back into the dressing room. Was this a regular thing with girls? I thought those dresses looked fine, but every time I said so, she just looked at me like I was crazy. Then she would go back inside and start the process all over again. If she was a guy, we would have been done hours ago…

My mind drifted as I sat on the bench.

I remembered the fight I had with Katara last night. She had said the worst thing possible, the one thing that would completely break me. I know she couldn't have known what her words did to me, but it still hurt just the same. After I left I decided to go for a walk, a long walk. I ended up in the same place where I first rescued Katara, it was a horrible coincidence. I had stayed there all night, punching out my frustrations. Working on moves that were way to complex for me, just so I could take my mind off of my father. No, not my father...just Ozai. He will never be my father. I imagined every tree to be him, every rock to me was Azula. I left that clearing black with soot. Now, my muscles ached, and I was so tired I couldn't concentrate on anything.

It seemed like it took forever until the shop assistant finally helped her out of the dressing room and announced she found a dress. I wasn't even aware that she even came out of the dressing room anymore after I got lost in my thoughts. I could only thank the gods that this experience was over.

* * *

I know what your thinking..."Omg! The plot is upon us at last!!!" Well...yes. It kinda is...This is where it kicks off.

I am constantly getting more and more ideas for this fic. So far, I have changed the plot about 4 times...but don't worry, I know that I'm doing!

**Roses are red,**

**Violets are blue,**

**If you read this chapter...**

**Then drop a freaking review!**


	5. Tears

**I'd like to take this chance to say thank you to everyone who has been supportive to me throughout this story, I really do appreciate it.  
**

**Alice the dark angel:** Wow! Thank you very much! That really means a lot to me. I'll try to make it as long as possible without it becoming lame and repetitive.  
**Peanut26**: Sure thing!  
**Vimuku**: YEP! I cant wait to find out either! Well…I already know what's going to happen…and you'll probably know before everyone else too…hm…  
**Ktsvillefan**: Maybe I should think of more little poems then…its not like It took me more than 2 seconds anyway…(gets a pen and paper and starts thinking)  
**Pearlblue5**: You're right, but think of the bright side! Maybe it would stop all of those annoying girls from harassing him…  
**Mc fish**: You know what? I never really gave much thought to what kind of cups those darn girls kept breaking…hmm...I wonder what kind they use?  
**ML7**: I will have almost an entire chapter dedicated to it.  
**Negailaz**: Thanks!  
**Wicca in training**: Because it's just so darn fun!  
**Crazy-gal-in-blue**: It's because he's so cute when he's pitiful. I love writing little replies, its fun. What am I without the people who read and review? Without you guys I probably would have stopped doing this a long time ago. I'm grateful for people like you.  
**Celestia White**: Yup! The earth kingdom is a perfect place to find love.  
**Murciegala**: Ha ha, thanks. I guess my grammar isn't that bad then…  
**Luiz4200**: One of those will happen in this chapter, sorry it took so long, I know you've been requesting it for a while…

* * *

**  
**

I woke up to sound of birds chirping outside my window. I kept my eyes closed and continued relaxing to the sound of the bird's song. The sun was not out yet, so I had to increase my body heat to stay warm. I cursed myself for getting up so early.

I could tell from the soft breathing coming from the direction of my bed that Katara was still asleep. I sighed and shifter uncomfortably on my arm chair. I started questioning why I was the one sleeping on a chair, while Katara still had my nice bed to sleep on. I mean, she's my guest; shouldn't it be the other way around? My eyebrows scrunched together. I decided that after she wakes, that I would definitely switch beds with her. I shouldn't spoil her like this any longer. I know she's a girl, and I should be nice to her, but these sleeping accommodations were seriously giving me a backache.

I yawned and arched my back; it popped a few times, and I sighed in relief. My eyes snapped open when I heard a loud grumbling sound. I laughed quietly when I realized that it was just my stomach; I was only hungry. I got up as quietly as I could and cracked open the door, I peered around for any sign of uncle. I didn't see him anywhere so I creped through the hall and walked to his bedroom door. I pressed my ear to the door and heard him snoring gently inside; I smirked and headed toward the stairs. I walked down the stairs and headed into the kitchen to see what we had to eat. Unfortunately, there only seemed to be bread and eggs.

I sighed and cracked some eggs into a pan, and then I used my firebending to cook the eggs. I put them on a plate, grabbed the bread, and headed back into my room.

I took a big bite out of the bread and slowly climbed up the stairs. About halfway through the hall was when I heard it. Giggling. Katara was laughing at something, but the question was, what was she laughing at? It's not like there's something terribly funny in my bedroom…what could she be giggling at? I slowly cracked open my door to see what her deal was. What I saw almost gave me a heart attack. It was Uncle. I stared in open mouthed shock at the pair talking. How could he have found out?

"Oh Zuko! There you are!" Iroh said with a big smile.

"Uh… Hi, uncle." I said uncertainly. I was sure that I was going to get in trouble for having a girl in my room, so I braced myself. I guess that in the back of my mind, I knew he would find out eventually. Iroh is a very perceptive person; it's very hard to keep things from him. He also could have found out from all of those yelling fights we constantly had.

"Katara was just telling me about how you two are going to the fair tonight. Ah, I remember my youth." Iroh paused. I got ready for a long story about how hard his childhood was, and what he used to do for fun. I heard this all before. I actually had this whole speech memorized. Iroh turned to Katara. "When I was a child, we didn't have fairs…" I sat down in my chair and mouthed every word along with him behind his back. "We had to keep ourselves busy by playing with dirt." Katara's eyes shifter between Iroh and me. She was clearly trying to hold back a laugh. For some reason, this made me happy, so I continued mouthing his whole speech word for word. "Its not like we didn't have enough money to buy toys, we were royalty, but our father just didn't get them for us." He finished by crossing his arms across his chest, and I did the same.

I prided myself on my ability to mimic my family members perfectly, and I was happy that my little show could bring Katara enjoyment.

Iroh looked at Katara, who had a choked expression on her face from holding back that laugh for too long, and then smiled at me. "Zuko, I need to have a word with you in the hall." He smiled and practically dragged me out of the room. As soon as we closed the door, Katara let out a shriek of a laugh.

"Yes, uncle?" I asked, unsuccessfully feigning innocence. I knew he wasn't buying it once I saw the look on his face. I shifted nervously on my feet and waited for him to start yelling at me.

"So, Zuko." He folded his arms across his big chest. "Would you like to explain to me why you have a young lady in your room? And yes, I was aware of her the whole time, did you really expect to get something like this past me?"

"Well you see…" I paused and tried to think of my words carefully, but I decided it was just best to tell him the whole truth. So I told him everything. I told him about seeing the man carrying her, and our fight, then about me taking her back to my room and treating her wounds. The whole time Iroh just stood there and nodded.

Iroh looked thoughtful for a moment. "What did this man look like?"

I had to suppress a shiver, which if I might add was not manly at all... "He looked horrible. He had a crooked nose, and scars all over his face. When he smiles you can see that his teeth are rotten. He also had a tattoo of a snake eating a bird."

Iroh's eyes narrowed, though not out of anger. My forehead scrunched in concentration as I tried to remember our fight. The almost catlike way he moved, his powerful blows, his muscular arms. "I remember him having a scar running up his left arm, it looked like a burn, but I could be wrong."

When we fought, he moved way too fast to see, but when he raised his arm to attack me once, I could have sworn I saw a thick scar starting at his wrist and extending up his arm until it stopped abruptly at his shoulder. A split second after I noticed this, he took a swipe at my head, so it's understandable that I forgot about it until now. I didn't really see why it mattered to uncle what he looked like; he's probably dead by now anyway. I left him cut and bleeding.

"I know that man." Iroh said.

My eyes widened in surprise.

"I fought him once, and I almost killed him." Iroh looked at me in the eyes. "His name is Kanjou. He was an assassin that was once hired to kill your father, but I stopped him. I was the one who gave him that scar."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

He grabbed my shoulders. "Are you sure he's dead?"

"Yes." I answered immediately and confidently. But then I remembered his chest rising and falling with life. My shoulders slumped. "I don't know."

"This is not good, Zuko." Iroh stated morosely. "Kanjou does not like loosing. If he is alive, he _will_ come back, and you need to be ready for him." Iroh shut his eyes tightly for a minute, but when he opened them again, they were filled with determination. "If he comes back, you need to get out of there, don't worry about me. Your old uncle can take care of himself; I'll go and find you."

I swallowed through the lump in my throat. "Ok, uncle." I truly hoped that it never had to come to that, but I agreed to appease my uncle.

Iroh nodded. "Good, but for now, you need to get to work. Tea doesn't serve itself!" He stated jovially like we hadn't just discussed that my life was in danger.

I rolled my eyes and acted like everything was fine even though my heard was beating wildly in my chest. "Ok uncle, I'll be down soon. I'll bring Katara too; we could use the extra help."

Iroh smiled and left. I leaned up against the wall and tried to calm down. I was truly scared out of my mind. I shuddered to think that I might have to fight Kanjou again. I prayed to Agni that he died that day that I left him there. After my breath calmed, I walked back into my room. Katara was sitting on my bed and guiding a watersnake through the air. It swirled and looped gracefully through the air. I cleared my throat and she jumped. The water fell with a splash and turned to me.

Her cheeks were slightly pink from embarrassment. "What happened? Are you in trouble because of me?"

I thought about telling her about Kanjou, I really did, but I decided against it. If she knew there was a possibility that he might still be alive, then she would freak out, and I didn't want to have to deal with a crying girl. In the long run, this could possibly get me into some trouble, but I was willing to take that chance. "Nothing." I answered simply.

She didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything.

"Let's go downstairs; there is no need for you to stay in my room anymore anyway. You can do whatever you can to help." I eyed her broken leg. "You can handle the money or something. You can count right?"

She raised her upper lip in a snarl. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I just assumed since you're a peasant-"

"I don't have any kind of education?" she interrupted.

My head started to hurt. Why is this girl do damn touchy? I held my hands out in front of me. "Ok, whatever. Let's just go downstairs."

This seemed to anger her more. "No."

"Are you kidding me?!" I stared at her for a moment. "You know what? I don't care anymore; you can just stay up here all day alone. Just forget about the festival!" I started backing towards the door.

Her eyes widened. "No, no, no. Wait." She whined.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "What." I stopped at the door.

"Can we please still go to the festival?" Her face started looking like a cute little puppy koala.

It's a good thing that I grew up with a sister like Azula. Thanks to her I was forced at a young age to build up immunity to the puppy koala face. "No. I don't feel like it anymore." I answered childishly.

"Please?" Her eyes started to water slightly. "I remember you saying you don't go back on your promises."

Oh no. If there is one thing I can't stand, its tears. I can deal with the puppy face, but tears are a whole different matter. I haven't had much experience with tears. Back in the palace, Azula always used the puppy face to get what she wanted from me, so I was able to get used to it. After a while it didn't affect me at all. But Azula never cried. Never. She didn't even get sad. She just got angry, and when she got angry, she made other people cry. So I never had to deal with her using tears against me. "Um…I…" I felt myself starting to give in. "I guess we can still go…"

"Really? Thank you!" She bounced a little on the bed from happiness. I noticed that the tears that had formed a few seconds ago were gone.

"So, are you going to stay in here or come down?"

"I guess I'll go down and help. _Iroh_ seems like a really nice guy, so I'd love to help him."

My left eye twitched. I didn't miss the emphasis she put on Iroh's name, but I decided to let her slide. I guess we're even now. I basically called her stupid, so she called me mean. Yeah, even.

I walked over to her and helped her up. She leaned on me as we hobbled out of my bedroom and into the shop.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I walked into the shop and almost walked right back out again. That girl was back, and lucky me, she seems to have brought a few of her friends. That's just great. I looked around for uncle, maybe I could get uncle to serve them. My eyes swept past Katara, she was sitting at a table sipping tea and watching my behavior with curiosity. Uncle was nowhere to be seen. I closed my eyes tightly and sighed, today was going to be really fun. Yippee.

I checked to see if there are anymore people I could possibly help first, but sadly, they were the only ones here. I ground my teeth and walked over to them. "What can I get you today?" I said in a monotone that I hoped they wouldn't find attractive.

"Um…." They looked at each other and giggled. "I don't know." More giggling. "What do you recommend?"

"Everything is good." I sighed.

"What is your favorite?"

I rolled my eyes at this useless chatter. "The jasmine tea here is really popular."

"You sure we can't just have you instead?" One girl boldly asked. Her friends all gasped at her audacity and boldness.

I totally lost my cool composure. A low growl came from the base of my throat. I now had a choice, I could either destroy them, or I could calmly walk away and get Iroh who is probably somewhere in the kitchen. I heard a loud laugh from behind me, after a second, I realized that it was Katara. I then decided to do neither; I have to stand up to them now or they will never leave me alone. "No, you can't have me, you can _never_ have me."

"Lee." Iroh warned sternly from behind.

I jumped slightly in surprise. I hate it how Iroh is always sneaking up on me; he's just so good at it. "I'm going to go to the store room and get some more oolong tea, we're running out."

"No, you and Katara go ahead and get ready for the festival; I can take care of things in here." He turned in dismissal and started talking to the girls.

I practically ran away from those demon girls. I hurried to Katara (who was by this point laughing hysterically) and pretty much dragged her into my room. I dropped her on my bed carefully; I didn't want to hurt her broken leg. "Just get ready; Jeck and Tayote are going to get us in an hour."

"Ok, ok…just one minute." She continued laughing and wiped at a few tears.

I gave up on her and went to my dresser to get a different outfit. I huffed, left the room, and changed in the bathroom.

I left the bathroom and started walking toward my room.

"LEE! There you are!" I spun around and saw Jeck skipping toward me. Tayote followed quietly behind her with an apologetic look on his face.

"Hey, guys."

"Are you ready to go to the festival?" Tayote asked excitedly.

"Well, I am," I sighed "I'm just waiting for Katara to get ready."

She scrunched her eyebrows together. "Doesn't she have a broken leg?"

"So?"

"So? Well, she's going to need a little help. I've tried getting dressed with a broken leg before and let me tell you…" She opened my door and slipped into my bedroom. "Not fun."

I could hear Jeck and Katara's muffled talking from behind my closed door.

"Zuko." Tayote addressed me.

"Yeah?" I was a little surprised that Tayote was talking to me; actually, I'm always surprised when he talks.

"I thought so." He smirked.

"Wait…what?" I was getting a little confused. I backtracked our short conversation, and got ready to bend if needed. He said my name. He knew I'm Zuko. I got into a fighting stance.

"Don't worry; I don't want to fight you." He kept his hands in front of him in what was meant to be a reassuring gesture.

I didn't relax my stance. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to know if I was right, and I want to talk to you about something." He eyed my defensive stance. "Like I said, I don't want to fight you; you're my friend."

I relaxed slightly. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For being friends with Jeck." I almost doubled over in surprise. This was the last thing I expected for him to talk to me about. I was half expecting him to tell me to leave town or something. "I know she can sometimes be…difficult, but you're pretty much her best friend, so I thank you for that."

"I thought you were her best friend." I stated quizzically.

"Yes, but I'm different. I'm her boyfriend." He put his hand on his chin and thought to himself for a minute. "Do you remember when you first met Jeck?"

"How can I forget?" I cringed at the memory. I had been sweeping up outside the shop when suddenly someone tackled me to the ground. I fell on my back; the wind was knocked out of me. Before I could even react, the person started hitting me and yelling curse words at me telling me how bad of a boyfriend I was, and that she would kill me. I pushed her off of me and got on top of her, straddling her so she wouldn't move. She struggled some more and said some more things about how when she's done with me I wouldn't be able to have kids. Eventually, she looked at me she seemed surprised to find out that I wasn't the right person, and then she started laughing.

Without even apologizing to me, she pushed me off her easily with strength that I didn't even think she had. She went on to say that from behind I looked like her boyfriend and that she thought I was him. I had to seriously refrain myself from burning her into a crisp. Tayote appeared a few minutes after all of this, and they then started to hug and apologize to each other for something that I didn't care about. Afterwards, she just didn't leave me alone; they unfortunately started to grow on me after a bit.

"Do you know why she is like that?"

"Why?"

"She is a complicated person. Her father and sister were killed by a radical group of Earth Kingdom soldiers, and her mother is a drunk that gambles away all of their earnings. She deals with things a little differently than your normal person; she doesn't know how to deal with emotions like anger and frustration. Everyone hates her for this fact alone."

She's kind of like me, I thought to myself morbidly. We both have parents who are unfit to raise children. Both of us also have issues dealing with anger, although she takes her anger out on her boyfriend apparently. I take my anger out by firebending. Both are equally dangerous. "Is that why she wanted to befriend to me afterward? Because when she attacked me I didn't try to hurt her?"

He nodded. "You and I are Jeck's only friends."

"Hey!" Tayote yelled from behind my closed door. "I heard my name. You guys better not be talking about me. Because if you are, you'll have me to answer too…" She opened the door and helped Katara out of my room.

The dress she picked was a dark blue color and it brought a lot of contrast to her bright eyes. It had a floral pattern, which was embroidered in silver that wound around the collar and the hem of the dress. I blushed as I noticed that the dress hugged her form nicely and gave emphasis to her hips and chest. I averted my eyes to her face and she smiled at me. "What do you think?"

"You look ok." I turned away and looked at the vase that held the flowers I destroyed yesterday.

"Ok? Are you kidding me? I think Katara looks great!" Jeck exclaimed.

Tayote looked at me and smirked knowingly. "Let's get going before all of the good food in gone."

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o **

* * *

**Ok, so i know a lot of people have been waiting for Iroh to find out. Could I have done it a while ago? Yes, but I wanted to wait and get some other stuff out of the way first. So here you go, I gave you a 2 for 1 deal. Iroh knows (actually, he knew all along), and Tayote knows who Zuko is.****_  
_**

_**Roses are red,  
Daisies are yellow,  
If you don't review…  
I might kill this sexy young fellow.**_

(points a gun at Zuko's head)

**Zuko**: Wait…what?!?  
**Me**: MUAHAHAhahahaha!


	6. The festival

**Hey guys! How are all of you?**

**I'd like to take this chance to beseech all of you to go online and vote for avatar so we could win an award at the KCA. And just in case you live under a rock and don't know what the hell I'm talking about...Avatar was nominated to win an award in the Kids Choice Awards for the category of 'Favorite Cartoon'. I implore you all to vote so we could end the reign of terror that Spongebob Squarepants has had over this category. I know that we are up against Spongebob and Simpsons, but I think that if we all try hard, then we can do this. Heck, we've won contests on before...**

**p.s.- I wrote this chapter while in the midst of the biggest sugar high in my life. Consider yourself warned... **

* * *

Bright colorful lights were strung from roof to roof, merrily connecting house to house. The sweet smell of fried foods insulted my nostrils and seemed to seep into my every pore, making me cringe. Little children ran around, making a game out of avoiding the adults and giggling with joy. Their parents weaved in and out of the crowd, chasing them angrily. Everyone wore their very best clothes; all were like colorful sights of the expectations of fun they wanted to have. Excitement buzzed in the air as people talked to each other about what they were going to do first. Couples held hands as they strolled down the street. I sighed to myself as Jeck pulled Katara and me out to meet it all. 

"C'mon guys, lets go eat first. I'm hungry!" She smiled and started pulling us in the general direction of where the smell of food was coming from. I exhaled in irritation of my situation. Luckily for us, Tayote took her hand off of my arm and laced his fingers through hers.

I looked over at Katara and cringed to see that she was excited about this all, but what did I expect? Did I think she would hate something like this? "Hurry up Zuko, I'm hungry too." I narrowed my eyes at her. What was I? Her ostrich horse?

We hobbled together to the food stand where Tayote and Jeck were already ordering food at. The man at the stand handed them four sticks with what looked like meat skewered at the top. "Here you guys go!" She handed one to each of us and paid the man.

"What is this?" I asked Jeck.

She laughed. "I have no idea…but who cares?" She bit into it and tore off a huge chunk. She chewed, swallowed, and then smiled at us. She took another big bite. "It's good, try it!"

I looked at it for a second, grease dripped off of the meat and onto my hand. I peeked at everyone. Jeck's was already gone, Tayote was nibbling at his, and Katara was already biting off huge chunks of hers. They all still seemed to be breathing, so I took a bite of mine. It was actually pretty good; it tasted like meat at least.

"What is there to do at a festival?" Katara asked me from my side.

I shrugged my shoulders at her. I really didn't know. This was my first Earth Kingdom festival. I have been to Fire Nation festivals before, but those are very different from this. The main attractions were always duels. "Ask Jeck."

And, unfortunately, she did.

"There is food, games, dance competitions, concerts, and my personal favorite is Karaoke!" She said excitedly. "Haven't you ever been to a festival?"

"Not an earth kingdom one…"

"That's it!" She yelled with an edge of excitement in her voice. "Now we have to do everything!"

"Oh no…" My stomach started to feel queasy. "Cant we just play some games or something?"

"No, this is Katara's first time! We have to have as much fun as possible!"

I groaned and then turned to glare at Katara, who was smiling widely. She turned to me, and her smile faded. "What?"

I narrowed my eyes at her even more.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Jeck smiled at me. "What do you want to do first Katara?"

I thought to myself. Ignoring Zuko's glare, I decided that I wanted to go watch a dance competition. "I want to see the competition."

"Dancing it is then!" Jeck pulled Tayote away and Zuko followed grudgingly.

We walked through the crowd quickly and ended up at a small stage with people surrounding it. Couples were gathering around a small table and signing up for the different dances. We walked over to where the chairs were.

"Lee! Sign up with me!" Jeck beamed her smile at him.

He tensed up and roughly forced me to sit down. "Hey! That hur-"

I was cut off by Zuko. "Why don't you and Tayote do it?"

"I don't dance." Tayote replied for Jeck. She smiled.

"What makes you think I can?"

"The way you walk."

"What? How could you possibly know if I can dance by the way I walk?"

She shrugged. "It's your posture too."

"No." Zuko said firmly.

She folded her arms stubbornly and narrowed her eyes. I saw Tayote ready to intervene if needed. "Yes."

"I'm not going to do it, and that's final." He stomped his foot on the ground childishly.

"Really?" she challenged.

"Really." He confirmed.

Jeck smirked and walked up to Zuko. She started whispering into his ear, and his look of defiance soon turned into one of horror. His shoulders sagged in defeat. "Fine, but I get to pick the dance…" they both walked to the table and disappeared in the crowd of people signing up.

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. What could have Jeck possibly have said that would make him crack so easily? I turned to Tayote and saw him shaking with laughter. "What did she say?"

He looked at me and smiled. "You really don't want to know…" He sat next to me and we waited in comfortable silence. We were joined by Jeck and a grumbling Zuko a few minutes later.

The lights dimmed and a small man stepped onto the stage. "I'm here to welcome everyone to our 51st annual festival!" He paused and waited for the applause to stop. "This year's competition will include from two popular dances from two select nations. This year it will be the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation! The winners from each dance will be awarded this trophy and a bag of silver coins!" He held up the items and the crowd cheered wildly.

"Our first competition will be the Earth Kingdom waltz!" The crowd cheered as five couples clambered onto the stage excitedly.

The quickly made room for each other and got ready to start dancing. The music started gently and the partners sprung to life with dance. Most of them were good, some of them were awkward with their movements, but there were some that looked like they had professional training. They swirled gracefully around the stage, spinning and dipping with grace I thought was impossible. I looked at the dancers serene faces and was surprised to recognize that some of the kids looked like Fire Nation. I wrinkled my forehead in confusion. I looked around the people watching the dancing. Earth and fire mingled. No prejudice. No differences. They laughed with each other like they were all the same. A laugh bubbled out of my mouth. I wished at the moment that everyone could be like this.

I turned back to the dance with a smile on my lips.

The speed of the song picked up. The women's dresses flared out as the speed of the spinning. As the climax of the song came, the intricacy of the dance grew. The dancers moved quickly with precision. I felt a little nervous for Jeck and Zuko, if this dance was any indication, the competition for them is going to be fierce.

The song soon ended and the crowd burst into applause.

The short man climbed back on the stage carrying a trophy and folded paper. "Wasn't that wonderful?" We all cheered again for the dancers, even the not so wonderful ones. "Our judges," he pointed to a few people occupying the table that was used for the signups, "have come to a decision. The winners of out earth kingdom waltz are…" he unfolded the paper. "Jounlee and his partner Sayinel!"

The couple jumped up and down and hugged excitedly. The other contestants clapped politely for them as the crowd went crazy. I clapped loudly for the couple as they claimed their trophy and bag of silver coins. They bowed to the crowd and everyone exited the stage.

"Our next dance is very popular in the Fire Nation, but it is also very difficult. We only had three couples sign up for this _fiery_ dance. Everyone get ready for the Fire Nation tango!" The crowd cheered loudly. Excitement was in the air as the three couples got up and made their way onto the stage. Zuko lagged behind, and Jeck had to drag him onto the stage, but eventually they all made it up there. The couples got into position and froze, waiting for the music to start.

I watched Jeck and Tayote carefully. Zuko had his hand on the top of her back almost between her shoulder blades; their bodies were pressed up close together. I blushed at this and looked at Tayote. He just smiled at them. I looked back at them as the conductor gave a count off for the music.

The music started off quickly and the dancers jumped into motion. Jeck and Zuko were a tangle of limbs, they moved quickly. They were perfectly in unison as Zuko dipped and spun her deftly. Moving as one, their legs locked and he dipped her backwards and brought her back up in a sweeping motion.

The dance was very, dare I say, erotic. I finally understood why the crowd was on the edge of their seat with excitement for this dance.

Zuko spun Jeck out and jerked her back into his arms roughly catching her by her wrists. I should have been angry at the way he treated her like a puppet, a toy, someone to throw around, but I wasn't. The whole spectacle of using her as a plaything strangely excited me. She locked her legs around him and he dipped her gracefully. I was surprised at the skill and grace both Jeck and Zuko were showing. I was already expecting that Zuko could dance; he is a prince after all, but I was really surprised at Jeck.

Tayote must have read my mind. "Jeck's mother's friend is a dance instructor. She gives her free lessons."

"Wow." Was my oh-so-brilliant statement.

"I know."

We both turned back to the dance as the music started to climax.

He kicked her leg out from under her and he caught it by her thigh. He walked slowly backwards, dragging her, and jerked her back up. They danced back and forth, legs mimicking the others perfectly, landing in exactly the right place.

Zuko held Jeck's leg against his hip and spun them in circles to the beat of the music. Zuko dipped Jeck back forcibly, and my breath escaped me in a whoosh as her head neared the floor, but he stopped her just in time. He took his hand and cupped her face gently, like lovers, and ran his hand down her neck, the middle of her chest, her stomach, and stopped just at her navel. He snapped her back up so their faces were almost touching, and the music stopped.

The crowd rose to their feet and screamed. Tayote helped me up, and we both clapped and screamed as loud as everyone. That was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. The partners stepped toward to the edge of the stage and took their turns bowing individually. When Zuko and Jeck bowed, the cheers were deafening.

The short man stepped onto the stage for the second time that night. "Well, wasn't that great?" The crowd yelled in agreement. "This is perhaps the best show of skill in all of my years as the announcers of this competition. Our judges have come to a decision. You winners are…" he carefully unfolded the paper and smiled. "Lee and his partner Jeck!"

Tayote and I cheered wildly until my voice hoarse with screaming. Jeck skipped up to the short man and hugged him tightly; she took the trophy, and Zuko took the money. His face as passive as always. All of the contestants left the stage and the crowd dispersed, ready for the next event. Jeck and Zuko walked up to us, and Tayote immediately ran to give her a big hug. He kissed her on her cheek tenderly and congratulated her.

"No, no, no. Lee is who made us win, its all in the leading. Some of the stuff we did, I had never done before. He's a great dancer."

"Both of you were great." I told them.

Jeck beamed at me and Zuko just grunted a thanks.

"What should we do next?" I asked excitedly.

"Lets get more to eat, all of this dancing made me hungry…"

I laughed at Jeck and let a grumpy Zuko help me follow them.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

My top lip curled up in disgust at the food being thrust into my hands. It was a nasty green color and looked slimy. "What is this?"

"Why do you keep asking us? I don't know! Just eat it!" Jeck yelled at me.

I handed it off to Tayote, who seemed to be enjoying his. He nodded thanks. "No thanks, I'll take my chances juggling flaming blade-finned piranhas at my house. I figure it's safer."

I heard Katara snort in laughter. Well, at least someone thinks I'm funny…

"Whatever Lee, lets just go to the karaoke stage and watch people make fools of themselves."

"Now _that_ sounds like fun." I told her, "Let's go."

It was only after I took a few steps that I saw him. _Him_. The source of my bad dreams. Kanjou. He was standing about twenty feet in front of us. I jerked to a stop and could do nothing but stand there in shock for a minute. He smirked at me, and my mind jumped back into motion. I need to get out of here. I need to get _us _out of here. I looked at Katara's confused face, and her forehead wrinkled at my frightened expression.

"What's wrong?" Tayote asked worriedly.

I looked at him for a minute and decided I have to get us out of there now. I tightened my grip on Katara and started dragging her away.

"Lee?!" Jeck called out to me.

I kept going, I couldn't stop. I knew that I probably wasn't going to make it out of here alive, at least with Katara, but I couldn't leave her. Katara struggled against me. "Lee, what's wrong?"

I didn't stop; I just kept running.

"Tell me!" Katara repeatedly hit me on my chest. I grunted in pain, but I didn't stop, not even to explain. I couldn't, not with that killer so close to us.

Jeck and Tayote caught up to me and stood in my way. "What's wrong?"

"Katara and I need to get out of here now!" I tried to push through them, but they wouldn't budge. "MOVE!" I yelled at them, pushing all the urgency I could into my voice.

"Not until you tell us why." Jeck said firmly.

"Urgh!" I screamed at them and looked around for Kanjou wildly. He was walking toward us with his swords drawn, a sadistic smirk playing on his lips. "There's an assassin named Kanjou after us! Now move!"

They froze in shock and disbelief, and I was able to push pass them. I weaved in and out of the couples walking hand in hand, who were enjoying their leisure time while I only had a few more minutes to live. Jeck and Tayote were at my side a minute later to help me with Katara. I quietly thanked them and noticed that Jeck now had tears streaming down her face; her expression was one of fury. "You guys go on; I'm going to kill this bastard."

"No!" Tayote stopped, and I stumbled from Katara's weight. I righted my self and tried to keep Katara and me from falling.

"You don't understand! He's the one who killed my father!" She screamed at him.

Tayote froze for a second and then nodded, "You're not doing this alone," he turned to us, "You guys get out of here, we'll find Kanjou."

I pointed of in the direction that I saw Kanjou last and they sped off.

"Zuko!" Katara pleaded.

I ignored her and kept running.

"Zuko! Stop right now!" She struggled against me, and I had to drag her.

I looked for the fallen tree that I always stash my twin Dao swords in. I found them, grabbed them and then kept running.

"I don't understand!" She was near tears. "Where are we going, and who's Kanj-"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my pretty little waterbender…" Kanjou's voice came from directly behind us. I dropped my swords in surprise.

Katara gasped in horror from beside me and she slipped from my grip. She fell to the floor with a gasp of pain as she grasped her leg. I tensed and spun us around quickly. My swords lay forgotten on the floor.

"I think you owe me an apology…and a waterbender." He pulled out his swords and made it clear that no matter how good my apology was, he was still going to kill me.

I growled at hem. Screw my freaking pride, screw keeping my firebending a secret. I needed to end this; he needed to die this time. I breathed in and out, trying to calm myself. If I was going to use my firebending, I wanted to be in complete control of myself, emotions can't get in the way. I calmed my mind and relaxed my body, tranquility flooded through me. This must be how Azula feels, I thought morbidly, cold, emotionless.

He came at me with his swords, and I sent a fireball to his head. His eyes widened in surprise, and he dodged it quickly. He snarled at me and changed his stance to a defensive one. I charged at him, sending wave after wave of fire at him, but he rolled agilely out of the way and started to advance at me once again. He slashed at me with his swords, and I bent backwards to get out of the way. Before he could move, I kicked a fireball at his stomach. It hit him in his chest, and he stumbled back.

His top lip raised in a snarl. "Firebender."

I smirked at him and created fire daggers.

He dodged my attacks with skill and was quickly advancing on me. I started moving backwards, a close range fight would be too hard for me right now. Not impossible, just harder. I needed to save as much energy as possible, so a long-range fight was going to be the best for me. But every time I moved back he matched my distance and then some.

I got ready to do a move that Iroh taught me a long time ago, I hadn't been able to do it at the time, but now…maybe I could. For this move you needed to be in a state of calm, and I have never been so calm in my life.

I breathed in deeply and heated the air in my lungs until it was fire and nothing else, and then I exhaled. Fire burst from my mouth and hit a surprised Kanjou. He flew backward from the force of my blow.

He lay motionless. I didn't relax; I thought he was dead once, I'm not making the same mistake again. I'm going to be sure he is dead this time. I walked up to him and looked at him. He now had a burn on his stomach matching the one Iroh gave him on his arm many years ago.

"Lee!" Jeck yelled from a few trees away.

My head snapped up, and I saw Kanjou's fist enter my vision. He hit me on the jaw with his fist, and I stumbled backwards. "There is only one person that I have seen use that move before…" He fingered the scar on his arm and punched me in my stomach. "The dragon of the west." He punched me in the face, and I felt my lip split.

Kanjou was suddenly thrown to the side, and he fell, taking me with him. I struggled out of his grasp and to my swords. Jeck was straddling Kanjou and punching the hell out of him. She screamed and cursed at him with tears streaming down her face. She punched him again and again as blood poured out of his nose. He growled in fury and punched her hard in the face, sending her flying to the ground. I heard Tayote scream in fury and rush to Jeck's side. She got up unsteadily and wiped the blood from her mouth. She swayed for a moment and then fell again. Tayote kneeled next to her and cradled her thin body in his arms. Jeck groaned loudly from her spot on the ground.

"Looks like we have ourselves a little reunion here. The dragon of the west's nephew, the daughter of the man I killed, and my little waterbender…" Kanjou smiled at us. "Looks like I'm going to have some fun tonight."

Tayote rose from the ground slowly, the air was suddenly thick with fury. He looked at Kanjou with a calm expression on his face, but his eyes blazed. His jaw muscles clenched and unclenched, anger radiated off him in waves. This was not the Tayote I knew; this was a totally different person. I had never seen him like this before, with such anger and murderous intent.

Katara choked out another sob from behind me. I turned to her and saw that she was frozen in fear. She stared in wide-eyed horror at Kanjou as he sneered at her. I realized that she wouldn't be any help. It's just me and Tayote now. Can Tayote even fight? In all of the time I knew him, I had never once seen him fight, but that didn't necessarily mean he couldn't. Tayote is just a non-confrontational type. But yet again, this wasn't Tayote; this was someone who would fight without restraint.

Tayote quickly stomped on the ground and a large boulder rose from the earth. He hit it hard with his palm and sent it flying toward Kanjou. Kanjou ducked out of the way quickly and smirked. Tayote shoved his hands into the hard earth at his feet and turned his hands sharply. The earth around Kanjou started cracking and he sank into the earth. He struggled to break free, but couldn't.

"Get out of here." Tayote commanded firmly.

"I can't leave you guys!"

"I said," he stepped forward threateningly, "get out of here. The gods know we can't kill him, but we'll sure give him hell. Go now. We'll hold him off."

"Are you sure?" I asked, already inching towards where my swords and Katara were located.

"Go."

I didn't need him to repeat himself. I grabbed my sword as Tayote resumed his attacks. I grabbed a still sobbing Katara and ran for it.

I turned back to Tayote one more time. He was walking towards Kanjou with a club made of rock. He struggled, and one of his legs came free. I turned towards the forest and half dragged Katara through the trees.

* * *

**Heres a pretty long chapter for you. I hope you enjoy. And if you're wondering why the chapter titles aren't French anymore...well...I think German is a cooler language, so you get German titles now.**

**I know what your thinking "All of this time and you haven't once mentioned Aang and everyone! Whats wrong with you?!" Well, calm down everyone...I'll get to all of that fun stuff.**

**And you're probably also thinking "Why didnt Zuko dance with Katara? This is a Zutara Isn't it?" Well she cant really dance with that leg, yes it is, and I just really wanted to write a Tango scene so I didn't really care who it was with. See? This is why I shouldn't be allowed sugar. **

**So...um...I don't really have much to say this time, and I don't really want to have to think of a little poem today...**

**Now if you excuse me, I have a going away party to go to. One of my friends is going back to the Philippines...I'm going to miss him...**


	7. The cave

**Ha ha ha! I is Happy! Guess what? I have an old school tamagochi. YAY! Its actually 9(or so) years old and has never been opened. I'm so lucky! Everyone around my age remembers these things, they were the cool thing. I'm surprised the thing hasn't died yet though...BUT ITS AWESOME!!!!**

**Um, I'm way happier with this chapter than I was with the last one.**

**Oh well...I'll shut up now...**

* * *

My legs were tired and sore, but I couldn't bring myself to stop running. Every time a twig snapped beneath my feet, I tensed. I was still half expecting Kanjou to jump out and attack us.

Katara moaned from my side. I sped up.

"Zuko…" Katara moaned.

I looked at her and was that her face was a startling shade of green. I groaned and stopped. I set her down near a bush and turned away as she emptied her stomach onto the rough dirt.

"Water." She croaked.

"I don't have water."

She moaned and retched again.

"Get up, we need to keep moving." I commanded her.

"Where? Where can we possibly go?" Katara put her head in her hands and started crying all over again.

"I don't know!" I yelled in frustration and confusion. Where could we go? We couldn't go back; Kanjou could still be there. There weren't any towns around either; the nearest one was across the mountains. I didn't have a tent or anything I could use as shelter. All we had with us was the small bag of silver coins I won at the dance competition, my twin Dao swords, and the clothes on our backs. All that I could possibly think about at the moment was that we might have gotten past Kanjou, but now were probably going to die out here.

A loud sob from Katara broke me out of my thoughts. "This is my fault. Jeck…Tayote…their both probably…" She broke down in tears.

"How is this your fault?!" I yelled. "I should have killed him the first time! After I found out he was still alive, I should have done something!"

"You knew he was alive?!" She looked at me. Dried tears and dirt were caked onto her face, and she was livid.

"Yeah I knew." I said bitterly.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she screamed.

"Because I didn't want to have to deal with you being like this!" I gestured toward her.

"Like what?" she challenged.

"Crying!" I threw my arms up in exasperation. "I can't stand it when people cry!"

"Well, I'm sorry Zuko!" She mock bowed. "I hope you'll soon forgive me for being human, for having emotions, for not being a brick wall like you!"

"Is that what you think? That I have no feelings? Well, you want to know what I _feel_?" I snarled at her. "I _feel_ like I should have never gotten involved in all of this crap, I _feel_ like I should have just listened to Iroh and settled down in that horrible little town, and I_feel_ like strangling you for bringing me into all of this!"

"How is your involvement in this my fault?" Katara yelled at me.

"If you weren't so damn helpless, I never would have had to save you, and I would still be at home drinking tea!"

"You're impossible!"

"And you're infuriating!"

"Stop screaming!" she yelled back at me.

"I'll scream as much as I damn well want, Katara!"

My arm itched to hit something. I turned and stalked toward a tree. I brought back my fist and punched the trunk hard. The bark cracked beneath my knuckles and smoke drifted into the air. I brought my fist back and punched again, blood dripped onto the ground below, but I didn't feel any pain. I growled in anger. For some reason, I craved the pain. I saw it as the only way to distract myself from cooking Katara alive. Pain has that kind of power. I punched the tree again and the blood started dripping faster. No pain. I hit it one last time and the trunk burst into flame.

I turned back to Katara and saw that she seemed to have calmed down a bit. "We need to sit down and think." She told me slowly and with deliberate calmness.

I clenched my eyes shut and counted to ten; a little trick Iroh taught me long ago so I could control my temper. I clenched my teeth together to stifle my urge to yell at her. "Ok, your right. We need to-" I hissed loudly and looked at my knuckles; the pain finally came to me. I took pleasure in seeing the blood flow down in rivulets from my raw fist. My knuckles pulsed painfully. I concentrated on only the pain, and I could peel the anger ebbing away. I stared at my hand and continue on like nothing had happened. "find a place to stay first."

"It's still too close for me." I stared back into the direction we came from and shuddered. "Let's go for a few more miles, and then we'll stop once we find a cave or something."

"Ok, help me up then." She held out her arm and waited for me to come.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Zuko…lets take a- a break." Katara panted.

"Why are you tired?" I replied gruffly. "I'm the one carrying most of your weight…" I tightened my grip on her waist and pulled her even faster.

"Haven't we traveled enough? We should try to find a place to stay." She looked at the canopy of trees over our heads. "We only have an hour or so left of sunlight."

I sighed in frustration. "Fine."

We only had to walk about five more minutes before we found a cave. "Oh dear gods, thank you…" I practically dragged Katara into the opening.

I made a fire ball in the palm of my hand so I could see. The cave was dark and the air was stale. The sealing was low so I had to tilt my head sideways as I walked. I was a little annoyed to see that Katara could sand, and she even had a few inches of room above her head. The walls of the cave were damp and mossy, which meant that there was probably fresh water nearby. The ground, unfortunately, was hard rock.

I set Katara on the ground and decided to explore the cave a bit. The cave wasn't that big, but since there were only two of us, it would work. I saw some pieces of wood that looked like it was broken off of a tree and walked over to investigate. They were wet, but since I have a waterbender here with me I should have no problem. I picked them up and walked back to where Katara was at. She was staring at the entrance of the cave.

I dropped the logs into a pile loudly and she jumped. I started arranging them into one of the patterns uncle taught me while we were running from Azula. I looked over to Katara and motioned to the wet logs. "Can you take the water out of them?"

She looked at me for a second and nodded. She raised her arms and the water effortlessly flowed out.

"We should get some sleep; we'll have to leave early." I said while I walked over to the pile of logs I had made. I sent a fireball towards the dry logs and they burst into flame easily.

I lay down on my back and stared at the ceiling. I wasn't really tired, but I knew that if I didn't get some sleep now, I'd be miserable tomorrow. I shifted around on the hard ground and tried to find a comfortable position, but to no avail. I sighed and sat back up. I looked around and saw that Katara was already drifting off to sleep a few feet from the warm fire. I narrowed my eyes at her and stood up. I wandered around for a little bit for something comfortable I could sleep on, but I couldn't find anything. I walked back to the fire with sagged shoulders. Suddenly I got an idea. I walked over to the bossy walls and poked it a few times. The moss was thick and soft to the touch. I grabbed one of my swords and started cutting out a large chunk I could use to sleep on. I set it down on the ground near the fire and laid down on it. It was a little damp, so I heated up my body until the water came up as steam. I rolled over on my side and closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes with a snap when I heard Katara sneeze from where she slept. She rolled over restlessly and sneezed again. Great, just what I wanted, a sick healer. I got up and went back to the wall to cut her off a large square of moss to sleep on. When I approached, I could tell that she was still sleeping, so I poked her a few times, but she didn't stir. I poked her again, but nothing still. I rolled my eyes and set the moss down next to her and started rolling her over onto the moss. I marveled at the fact that even through all of this, she was still sleeping.

I started walking back to my little bed, but stopped when she sneezed again. I don't know why I cared; I mean it's probably her fault that she was getting sick. And she is a waterbender, she could probably heal herself. But why did I feel a little pang of nervousness every time I heard her sneeze? I shook my head as to clear my mind and walked back over to her. I reached out and touched her forehead. It was warm to the touch. I touched her arm, and it was cold. I could see that she was shaking. I sighed and started undoing my tunic. I balled it up in my hands and heated it up until it was warm. I draped it over as much of her body as I could and smirked at all of my hard work.

I went back to my bed and fell asleep listening to the wind blowing through the trees outside.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I awoke at sunrise and sat up to stretch my muscles. I arched my back, and it popped loudly. I bent forward to touch my toes, but I froze. In my morning haze, I couldn't help but wonder what happened to my shirt. I scrunched my forehead and thought for a minute. It finally came to me as I was about to give up thinking. I gave it to Katara last night. I stretched again, and my stomach growled loudly. I stared at my stomach dumbly for a minute, still in my morning haze, and stood up. There would be no time for breakfast; we needed to get out of here quickly.

I came to where Katara was still sleeping so I could retrieve my shirt, but when I got there I saw that it was wrapped around her tight. I tried to pry it off of her, but it wouldn't give. I gave up quickly and tried to decide what I could do until she woke up.

I walked to the mouth of the cave and breathed in some fresh air. I was surprised to see that there were puddles of water everywhere; it must have rained last night. I searched around for a clean puddle and used it to clean my face. After I was done, I took a big drink of water, who knows when we'll find water next?

I came back over to Katara and decided that it was time I wake her up so we could go. I poked her back, and she then grunted and rolled over. I tried my shirt again, but it was still wedged under her, so I poked her again. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked at me a few times.

"I need my shirt."

She blinked some more, yawned, rolled back over, and continued to sleep.

I shook her shoulder. "I said I need my shirt."

Nothing.

"Katara!" I yelled.

She jumped and sat up quickly. She squinted at me tiredly. "What?

I pointed under her. "I need my shirt back."

She raised her eyebrows at me. She looked at my bare chest and looked away quickly with a slight blush on her face. "Why do I have your shirt?"

"You were shivering last night." I answered her slowly.

She looked at me oddly for a minute. "Thank you…"

"Whatever." I folded my arms across my chest and waited. Her eyes started drifting towards my chest. I raised my good eyebrow at her and cleared my throat. "My shirt." I reminded her.

Her eyes snapped back to my face, and she scrambled to untangle herself from my tunic. She handed it to me with a red face. I took it and stood up to put it on. I tied it around myself and started talking. "We need to get going now."

"Where?"

"I don't know, but we need to get moving anyway." I told her and gathered my swords.

"We need to think of a plan, what good will it be it were just wandering around aimlessly?"

"It will be harder for him to find us that way." I reasoned.

"Yeah, it will be great… At least until we starve to death." She folded her arms across her chest stubbornly.

I sighed. "Fine. Where do _you_ suggest we go?" I asked.

She thought quietly for a second then she smiled. "Aang."

I blanched. "W-what?"

"We could go and find my friends!" She suggested excitedly.

"No way." I said firmly.

"Why not?"

"We just can't."

"You said you changed, so what's the problem?"

"I did change, but that doesn't mean they'll accept me!" I rubbed at my temple; I could tell that a headache was coming.

"Why wouldn't they?"

I stared blankly at her. What kind of question was that? They would never trust me. I spent half of my life hunting that poor kid down! My nation terrorized the whole world, and exterminated the Airnomads. Right when I'm in their sight, they'll probably attack me. "You know why."

She looked down in defeat. "But once they see me with you they-"

"Will kill me." I finished for her.

"Aang won't kill you."

"Yeah, but your brother might…" And I knew for a fact that he would. He was never one to hide his distaste for anyone from the firenation.

"No, he won't. Your overreacting." She waved her hand in dismissal.

I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Ok… He might get a little angry, but he won't kill you…" she compromised.

"Well, whatever we do, we need to get moving now." I moved over to her.

She visibly flinched at the memory of Kanjou. "I still say that we need to go to Aang. I'm sure he could protect us from Kanjou; I mean, he _is_ the Avatar."

She got me there. I'm sure the Avatar would provide protection from Kanjou, even if I was the one asking for the help. I sighed. "Even if we were to go and find him, do you know where you guys are camping?"

She smiled brightly at me. "I know what direction we were in, so when its night I'll use the stars."

"Ok… We'll stay here until night then. I'll go find us some food." My stomach growled again. "See if you could use some of the water outside to get your leg to heal faster or something. I don't want to have to carry you around forever."

She nodded and summoned a puddle from the mouth of the cave.

I went outside and grabbed some wet wood, and then held them out to Katara. She bent the water out of them and they immediately became lighter. I arranged the logs so I could cook over them and sent a fireball towards them. I grabbed my swords and went on my search for some food.

A half an hour later, I came back with two deer rabbits gutted, chopped, and ready to cook. I set the meat down on two large leafs that I had gotten and cleaned earlier.

"Wow, the most Sokka ever brings back is some nuts…" she stared at the food with wide eyes.

I smiled inwardly at the praise but kept my face passive. "If there's one thing Iroh taught me, its how to survive out here in places like this."

I got a large flat rock from outside and placed on top of the fire to heat up. Katara dragged herself to the fire and sat down. She waited patiently as I cooked the meat on the rocks. We ate in silence; mainly because we didn't really need to talk, and its not we had much to talk about anyway.

The day passed quickly, and suddenly it was night.

"Ready to go?" Katara asked me from her perch by the fire.

I looked at her and nodded. "Yeah."

She looped her arm around my shoulder and we walked out of the cave together.

* * *

**Ok, have you guys listened to the Zutarian Oasis podcast? It is soooo good. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you are really missing out. Its a very good listen. Its like more than an hour long though, but it does not once get boring. They discuss episodes 312 and 313 and all of the Zutara elements.  
**

**Here is the site (just get rid of the spaces.) **  
http// thezutarianoasis .podbean. com/

**Kk, I hope you guys enjoy! Review please.**

**p.s.- I hate the summary!!! ARGGG!!! If anyone has an idea for a new story summary that I can use instead of the one I have now, then please PM me...**

**p.p.s.- I love AN's, in these I don't have to have good grammar! YAY ME!  
**


	8. Fun

**So yesterday was our school's Sadies Hawkins Dance! It was so fun! This year (and last year too actually...) the dance was at the best theme park in the world (and where I worked over the summer)...Knotts Berry Farm. We shared the park with another school, I forgot the name of it but it was one of the ghetto ones, so they split the park. We got one half and they got the other...but we got the better one with Supreme Scream and Excelerator! In your face! Ok so I danced with my friends and some random guys, and rode on the rides, and ate like 4 hot dogs...ah...it was soooo fun.**

**I hope you like it!! YAY! **

* * *

We traveled by night, using the stars as out guides. Over those few days we didn't talk much, we were both preoccupied with our own thoughts. Although I couldn't tell you what she was thinking about, my thoughts were of Iroh; I couldn't help but worry about him. I wondered where he was, what he was doing, if he was safe, and if he really is going to find me. How could he know where I'm going? I also thought about Jeck and Tayote. I wondered if they were ok. I know I shouldn't have left them with Kanjou, but… I was afraid. They said so themselves that they wouldn't be able to kill him, and I just hoped that they weren't dead themselves. I found it strange that I was worrying about them.

I found it strange that I was worrying about them so much. Most of the time when they were around me, they annoyed me to no end. Well, it was mainly Jeck that was doing the annoying, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact that now that they are gone, I am strangely lonely. I took their presence for granted. I know I'm not alone; I have Katara, but she hardly counts as good company.

Once she started talking again, she complained almost constantly. She complained about the fact that we both haven't bathed for almost a week, about the meat being too bland, about having to sleep on the ground, and that I never talk. I ignore her completely, but it is still very annoying. She talks way too much. She could talk for hours without any indication of stopping. Most of the time I ignore her, but the times I actually listen; its all useless small talk, or her ranting about all of the injustices of her life.

Take right now for example.

"So he grabs me and a second later were being pulled upwards into the trees. Can you believe that Zuko?"

I sighed in annoyance and started pulling us faster. The moon shown high in the sky, and I couldn't help but stare at it.

"I know!" She throws her free arm into the air. "Gosh… He was so full of himself. Jet was so nice to me, butt hen I found out what his intentions were. He wanted to use my waterbending to destroy a whole village! I taught him a lesson though..." She laughed threateningly.

"Then…" she continued, "when were at Ba Sing Se, he comes back and tries to play all nice with us. 'I've changed' he tells me. At first I didn't believe him, for obvious reasons, but Toph finally convinced me. He did end up helping us though…"

She paused and thought to herself for a bit.

"He kind of reminds me of you, Zuko."

That got my attention. "Huh?"

"Well, he changed, and so did you."

"Don't you dare compare me to that… that idiot." I warned.

"Oh c'mon, Jet's not that bad…"

"Are you kidding me?" I stopped walking and just stared at her.

"What? He might be a little crazy, but he is nice...when he wants to be…"

"NICE?! He attacked me just because he thought I was a firebender, which is not nice. Now that I think about it… He was probably the one who told Azula about Iroh and me working in the tea shop…"

Katara looked away sheepishly. "Actually…"

I narrowed my eyes sharply. "What?"

"Um…" she looked away. "It was actually my fault. But I didn't do it on purpose!"

I tried to calm my mind down and think of when I ever saw Katara before the caves. I came up blank. "When did you see us there?" I asked calmly, but underneath it all I was furious. All of this time I had been angry at Jet, but now that I knew I was mad at the wrong person, it just made me even more angry. I mean, I don't know who else I was supposed to blame. He tried to get me arrested. It's not like I'll trust him. He was the only one who ever suspected us of being firebenders, why wouldn't he tell someone like Azula?

"I was taking some scrolls to the Earth king, and I decided to get some tea. Then when I saw you, I freaked. I thought you were going to go after Aang." She looked away from me and mumbled to herself. "Which, if I might add, you ended up doing anyway…"

"So…" I began, ignoring that last comment. "You tell Azula about me because you _think _that in a city of thousands of people I will be able to find Aang?"

"I didn't know it was Azula!"

"Who'd you think it was? Some long lost friend whom you haven't seen in forever?!"

"Actually, yes! I thought it was Suki! Azula was disguised as a Kyoshi warrior."

"I can't believe you…" I walked away from her. How could she have not seen through a disguise when Azula is behind it? I know she can act like anything, but there is one thing she can't do. She can't get rid of her aura. The feeling of malicious intent that follows her everywhere. How can someone miss something like that? When we were kids, I almost always knew when she was near; I would just feel her presence. The hairs on the back of my neck would stand. Maybe that's just because I am used to her, but still…

"Why does everything have to be my fault with you Zuko?"

"Because it is!" I yelled at her.

"Don't you dare blame everything on me. Hardly any of this is my fault!" her chest heaved in anger. "If anyone is to blame, it would be you!"

"How's all of this my fault?"

"Everything bad that has ever happened to me has been your fault!"

My temper flared, and my hands started shaking.

"I wouldn't even be in the damn Earth Kingdom if you hadn't been hunting Aang." She clenched her fists at her sides. "What do you have against him anyway? What has he ever done to you?!"

"Everything!" I yelled at her. I immediately clamped my mouth shut. I did not want to have this conversation, not now, not ever. Why did I even say something so personal? It's all her fault. I glared at her and sat down at the base of the tree. I couldn't believe that she is blaming everything on me. If anyone is to blame, it would be my father. He was the one who sent me here.

The only blame that rests on my shoulders is that I took this task personally. At first this was just a quest that I had to do, and then I would be welcomed back with open arms. It was like a vacation of sorts. I enjoyed it in the beginning, although I missed my home, I was just glad to be away from Azula. But after a whole year of searching aimlessly for the avatar without any word to as to where he was, I started taking everything personally. It was like he was mocking me; like he wanted my father to continue thinking I was worthless.

Katara looked at me strangely. She looked confused, but she was no longer angry. "Do you want to tell me what you mean by that?"

"No." was my curt reply.

"Can I at least heal your fist?" A peace offering. But I definitely would not accept.

I narrowed my eyes at her. I could tell that she was trying to diffuse the tension, but I wasn't ready to let it go. The fire within me wouldn't let it go. Katara is like the element she manipulates; her natural instinct is to calm things. "No." but I will not let her.

"It's going to get infected…" she replied nonchalantly. I could tell that she was itching to be able to bend.

I looked at my fist and then back at her, my anger was slowly abating, but it was still there. I didn't really ant her near me right then, but my fear of an infection was stronger than my anger towards her. I held out my fist and looked away. "Fine."

I didn't move, so she had to limp over to me. I could tell that her leg wasn't hurting her very much, she was able to walk on it, and so I would make her walk on her own from now on. Thank Agni. She plopped down next to me and bent some water out of a puddle that hadn't evaporated yet. She grabbed my hand and formed a healing glove. My hand tingled slightly as she held my hand and undid the bandages. She placed the healing water on top. The gentle pulse that had been coming from my hand for the past few days left instantly and I sighed. I watched as the scabbed flush smoothed into perfect skin. She let go, and I flexed my fingers.

I looked up at her, and she was looking back at me expectantly. "Thank you…" I said begrudgingly.

She smiled at me. "You welcome. Now, was that too hard?"

"…" My temper flared again, but I stopped myself from starting another argument.

Her smile faded a bit. "C'mon, we need to go. I'm sure they're all worried about me. And the sun is coming out, so let's hurry."

I narrowed my eyes. She has someone to go to. I don't. She has family and friends. I don't. I left my only family and friends back in that stupid town. She had people that will open her back with open arms. I'd just be lucky if they didn't kill me. They would not accept me, I knew this much. I would be there, but I wouldn't really be seen. This fact made me resent her even more.

I stood up and started walking. She held out her arms expectantly and waited for me to help her walk. I looked at her, raised my eyebrows, and kept walking.

"Wait!" She called from behind me.

"Zuko, wait. I recognize where we are!" said Katara.

I turned around. Katara was already limping through the trees at my left. I followed her silently, letting her lead the way. We traveled for about five minutes and then I heard her laugh. She turned back to me and smiled. The sight made my stomach flutter. I scrunched my eyebrows. Maybe I ate something bad… "We're at the lake!"

She walked between two trees and disappeared through the thicket. When I emerged onto the other sides, I gasped. It was beautiful. The lake was small, but the water was crystal clear. I could see fish swimming happily through the rocks and I felt a strange urge to jump in there with them. There were trees surrounding the small lake were green and flourishing. Wild flowers bloomed everywhere. All of the flowers reminded me of the palace gardens my mother used to tend to. She had flowers from every nation, orange, blues, greens, reds, yellows. I felt a pang of sadness, I missed my mother. I tried to erase her from my mind; I wanted to try to be happy. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath; I didn't open them until the sadness was gone. The smells, colors, and sounds swirled in my mind and made me smile. I felt like I really could be happy here.

I was jerked out of my thoughts by a big splash. I turned around and saw that Katara was now swimming in the lake wearing nothing but some white bindings.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. "I thought you wanted to see your friends!"

She looked at me. "I do, but I don't want to smell like a monkey hog when I see them!" she yelled back.

I rolled my eyes and sat down in the shade. I closed my eyes and breathed in the exotic scents. "Do whatever you want."

"Are you going to come in too? You don't smell like daisies either…"

I looked at her and raised my eyebrows. She smiled at me and dove under the water. As soon as I was sure she couldn't see me, I smelled myself, and she was right. I didn't smell like daises. I cringed and started stripping away the many layers of clothes that had become dirty while on the road. I laid them down neatly in a pile and walked to the waters edge. Katara was swimming laps back and forth, from north bank to south bank. The sun beat down on my muscled chest as I walked into the water. The water was cold, but refreshing. I submerged myself in the water, and I could feel all of the dirt and sweat just lift off of my skin. I surfaced and found that Katara was nowhere to be seen.

I was suddenly yanked under water roughly. I gasped and started swallowing water; I coughed and struggled to get back to the top of the lake. I broke through the surface of the water and gasped for breath, setting off another fit of coughing. I glared at Katara, who about 20 feet away from me was shaking in laughter. My anger boiled inside me and I had to try hard to suppress and violent urges. The water in my hair and on my body turned into steam and evaporated right off of me.

"What…" I took in a deep breath and stopped myself from yelling. "Was that?"

"What was what?" she answered quickly.

I growled at her and closed my eyes, counting to ten. I relaxed slightly and opened them again, but she was gone. I tensed up and started searching the water for any sign of her. I didn't find any. Just when I was about to dive under to investigate, I was hit with a big splash of water. I wiped the liquid out of my eyes and glared at a still laughing Katara. I narrowed my eyes and decided to stop being the mature one, so I splashed her back. Her eyes widened in surprise, but a moment later she recovered and smiled evilly. I couldn't help but notice then how pretty she was. I had noticed that she was attractive before, but I hadn't given it much thought. I always had other things to think about. But now was different. Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness, and her hair hung loosely around her face. Her lips were stretched in a big smile, and her cheeks were flushed. I was jerked out of my thoughts a second later by another splash.

Oh no.

It was on.

What ensued was the biggest splash fight I had ever been part of, not that I've ever been a part of one before, but it was still pretty big.

Katara, luckily for me, wasn't using her waterbending, so I stood a good chance at wining. Neither of us was going to stop anytime soon, so I thought up a plan that would insure a victory.

I went under water for a few seconds and filled my mouth with water. When I came up, I continued splashing like nothing had happened. I waited until she was getting ready to strike, and then I did it. I warmed up the water and spit it out at her. She looked at me with wide eyes, a mixture of shock and laughter on her face.

I saw her expression and couldn't stop myself, laughter bubbled out of my throat. An actual laugh. I haven't laughed in a long time. Katara looked at me like I had just grown an extra head.

She finally started laughing. "Truce?" she asked me after a few seconds of laughing.

"Even though I obviously won?" I asked her back.

She rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand. I shook it and we swam back to the shore.

I finally got a good look at what she was wearing. She had white bindings wrapped around her intimate areas, hiding everything from view. Her skin was a dark brown color, one that I had never seen before until I first saw the southern water tribe. The color fascinated me, I wanted to reach out and touch it. I restrained myself from taking a step toward her. She was very petite, skinny, but not too much so. As Katara moved toward her clothes, her muscled legs flexed, her hips swayed, and her wet hair swept back and forth across her back. I felt the heat of a blush come to my cheeks, and I turned away from her before she caught me looking.

Why was I suddenly noticing all of these things? Why her? It's not like I had paid much attention to girls before. I'm sure I had come across attractive ladies before; I had been all around the world. But all of those trips, I had been so preoccupied with thoughts of the avatar, I guess I just didn't notice. But maybe that's why my testosterone hadn't kicked until now, now I actually have time to notice these things. And I was sure noticing.

"Zuko." She called. I turned around and saw that she was already dressed and her hair was already tied back. "Hurry up, I want to get going." She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. Oh Agni, she was pretty.

I looked down and saw that I was still without my shirt. "Alright, hold on." I grumbled in embarrassment. My pants were still wet so I increased my body temperature until the water was coming off in steam. The steam clung to my muscled chest in small droplets, making my skin shine. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Katara was still watching me, so I cleared my throat and she jumped. A blush came to her face, and she quickly turned away. I got dressed quickly, and we were on our way.

Katara lead us through the dense forest slowly, making sure we didn't get lost. Or the slowness could have been because of her leg, but I still refused to help her. It only took about five minutes of walking before we reached the campsite.

Katara pointed at a few large rocks that obstructed the view of what was on the other side. "We camped on the other side of those rocks. I hope they're glad to see me!"

Katara half limped, half ran to those rocks and tried to climb over, but she couldn't do it with her injured leg. I rolled my eyes and decided that I would just help this once. I caught up to her, grabbed her by the waist, and gave her a boost. She made it to the top of the rock, looked at the other side, and froze. I raised my eyebrow at her and wondered why she wasn't trying to wake up the whole camp.

"What is it?" I asked her.

She didn't answer.

"Katara?" I tried again.

She fell to her knees and kept staring. Still no answer.

I gave up on her and climbed my way to the top. I looked out at the campsite and gasped. "Oh no…"

* * *

**Oh no!! A cliffe??**

**MUAHAHahahahaha!**

**I wont give you any hints about what will happen in the next chapter, I'm just going to let your imaginations go wild.**

**So, happy spring break to everyone but me. Yeah...you heard (or read) right...I'm not on spring break yet. Mine do****e****sn't start until April 6th. Which is two days before my birthday by the way! So while everyone is sleeping in, I will be waking up at like 6:30...Yay me.**

**Quick shoutout to VioletCrystals who left me the awesomest review that I have ever gotten (it was for my first chapter). So thank you and I hope I dont ever dissappiont. I hope I can post this before she gets to this chapter though...p.s- you're way better at writing all of those little poems than I am. **


	9. The plan

**Hey guys! I'm back and ready to kill that cliffy that I gave you guys last week.**

**Man, I remember when this story was just a baby. This is actually the first story I have ever started, did you know that? AWwww...look how its grown...And to think I never had any intention to publish this...**

* * *

"Oh no…" I gasped.

As I looked out upon the campsite, my heart skipped a beat.

The campsite was empty, but that wasn't all. There were scorch marks everywhere, on the trees, on the ground, and even on the rocks. The earth looked like it had been split, and the once beautiful land now lay in shambles. It was obvious that a great battle had taken place. One between fire, earth, and maybe even water and air. And since the group was nowhere to be seen, I inferred that they had lost.

Katara shook with anger from beside me. "Who did this?" she asked dangerously between clenched teeth.

"I don't know." I told her calmly, I knew better than to set her off right now. "Lets go down and see if we can find out."

She nodded stiffly, her jaw clenched. She looked to be fighting back tears, so I decided to take pity on her and help her down the rock, but as I reached for her, she slapped my hand away. My anger flared, and even though I tried my hardest to suppress it, but it couldn't be helped. I was just about to yell at her when I caught her eyes. They were angry, but determined at the same time. I no longer saw any trace of tears; she must have realized that the time for tears was long gone. Just as I had so long ago, she now thought of this as a personal attack.

We both started walking around the desecrated camp site, looking for any clues to who did this. I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for, but I knew that if I kept looking, I would eventually find it, and after about fifteen minutes of searching aimlessly, I found it. A dagger. It could have belonged to anyone, but by finding this small dagger, I suddenly got an idea of who did this. Now that I knew what I was looking for, it made everything much easier. A little ways away from where I found the dagger, I found a small curved knife. I now had enough proof for me.

"Katara!" I yelled out. "Get over here; I think I know who did this!"

She was at my side in a few seconds. "What did you find?" she looked at me. "Who was it?"

"Azula." I hissed through clenched teeth.

"What?"

"Well at first I thought it was Kanjou, but then I found this dagger." I handed it out to Katara and she took it reverently. "This made me think of Mai, so I looked around some more until I found this knife." I took a deep breath. "It's definitely Azula. Kanjou isn't even a bender." I said, answering her unasked question.

"How do you know?"

In all of the times we fought, he never once bent any element. And his body temperature is way to low to be a firebenders, I should know." A chill passed through my mind as I remembered his hand grabbing my arm, cold as ice.

"Are you sure this was Azula?" she asked.

"Yes, there's no doubt about it." I assured her.

"Urgh!" she screamed, and I jumped in surprise. I looked at her with raised eyebrows as she continued on. "I can't believe this!" she ranted. "Just when I thought I'd get to see my brother again... I can't believe them! How could they just leave without me?!"

"it looks like they didn't have much of a choice…" I indicated the scorch marks on the earth. I walked over to them and felt the burnt earth.

She glared at me for a second, but then decided to ignore me. "I cant believe they didn't find me after I didn't come back!"

I sniffed the scorched earth. "They left a while ago actually, I'd say about a week or two at the most."

She stared at me. "Wait, you said about a week? Are you sure? How do you know?"

I sighed in frustration. "Yes, yes, and I'm a firebender…I can tell how old these scorch marks are."

"Are you sure?" she asked again, looking me in the eyes.

"Yes." I assured her again.

"Then that would mean that they got attacked around the same day I left!" she looked at me again.

"Uh…yeah."

"So they were forced to leave me, they didn't have a choice!"

"Isn't that what I just-"

"Oh! I'm so happy!" she cut me off.

I raised my eyebrows at her. Why would she be happy at a time like this? She just found out that her friends might have gotten captured by Azula. Either way, there not here and we're alone again. She should be anything but happy. We planned to stay with her friends, we planned to get their help, but we're on our own once again. I'm stuck with her…again. Yay.

"I'm glad you're so happy, but we still have one problem."

She turned to me, still smiling. "What?"

I summed it up in one word. "Kanjou."

Her face fell instantly.

"What are we going to do now?" I continued through her thoughtful silence. "We need to think of something…we don't even know if your friends got away or not."

"Is there any way you can tell?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't know…" I answered.

"Can you try?" she pleaded.

There was something in her expression that made me want to answer yes. Maybe it was her clear blue eyes piercing mine, pleading with me. Whatever it was, it worked beautifully. "I'll try."

She placed her hand on my shoulder. "Thank you."

I went to investigate.

I started with the footprints. There were six sets of them in total, each with distinct qualities that identified their owner. One of the easiest set to identify, was the earthbender that Katara travels with. Toph, I think her name is. Hers was the only set of prints that were made by bare feet. I knew from past encounters that she never wore shoes, something that confused me greatly. Another set that was easy to isentify was Ty Lee's. Hers were light and faint, but still easy to distinguish. Hers would go for a few steps, then disappear completely for ten or so feet, then reappear again. The footprints were often punctuated by handprints that told me that she must have been flipping around a lot.

All of the others took me a bit to identify, but I was still able to. Sokka's were next. His were heavy and sloppy, like a caveman's. Aangs followed soon after, light, small, and careful. Azula's were heavy due to their armor, but hers were spaced evenly, purposefully, powerfully. Mai's were slow, dragging. Oh Agni. Even her footprints were boring.

I followed the battle through the footprints, reenacting it in my mind. "Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee came through the trees, surprising the gang." I told Katara, pointing at a group of footprints that were smeared, almost indistinguishable, obviously the gang had jumped into action. "They fought there and then they ended up over to this side of the camp." I pointed to were. I paused to think.

"What else?" she demanded impatiently.

I restrained myself from kicking her. "I think they might have gotten away…"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Well yeah...i think…" she raised her eyebrows at me and I continued before she could hit me out of frustration. "Well, that footprint is obviously Appa's, right?" I pointed toward a large animal footprint.

She looked at it and agreed. "Yeah."

"Oh, so all of the footprints go from over here, towards Appa's footprint and then that's the end. All of them stopped. Either they disappeared from this air, or they got away on Appa."

"wow Zuko, how do you know all of this stuff?"

I smiled bitterly as the memories of the past flitted through my head. "Iroh taught me a lot. One of many was tracking, that's how I always found you guys."

"Do you think you can do it again?" she asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…if they got away like you said, couldn't we just find them again?"

"You think it's that easy?"

"Well, you always seemed to manage…"

"I don't know. I'm still not sure if they'll even accept me, remember?"

"Zuko, I know they will. Heck, you might even become good friends!"

I looked at her face for a second. Oh yeah, I could just imagine us now. Playing games, laughing, and telling jokes. I just couldn't imagine myself doing that kind of stuff with them. "You're crazy…"

"But Zuko, we have to!" she begged.

"No, _you_ have to. I don't."

"But we've come this far!" she started to get angry.

And so did I. "So? I've helped you enough!"

"I need your help!" she glared at me. "But I'd never be able to do this on my own!"

"Well, now is a good time to start learning.

"Zuko, what are you going to do then?" She asked me, arms folded across her chest and hips cocked to the side.

"Go back to town." I told her matter of factly.

"What about Kanjou?"

I paused to think, but came up with nothing. I know he's out there somewhere, stalking, hunting. The thought made me sick to my stomach. If I would have any chance to kill Kanjou, it would be teamed up with the avatar. But there is still one issue, becoming part of the group. I knew Katara would accept me, since she's the one that told me to do it in the first place, and Aang would accept me, he's done I before, but what about Sokka and Toph? I don't know either of them, so it is hard to say. Uncle told me about Toph before, how they became friends and even had tea together, so maybe we could be the same. But Sokka? No way. He'd probably try to kill me. But if I wanted to live, going with Katara would be the best bet.

"Will you guarantee me that they will not try to kill me when I get there?" I asked her and held out my hand,

"Yes." She answered and we shook on it.

I sighed and prayed to Agni that I didn't just make a huge mistake.

"So…"she began. "What do we need to do first?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how did you always find us? What do we need to do first?"

"We search."

"Search?"

"Search for clues or anything that could tell us which direction they went." I told her.

"Ok."

I rolled my eyes at her, got up, and walked around the camp. I started first where Appa's footprint was. There was none of the usual obvious clues, like footprints leading out of the camp, or fur leaving a trail straight to them. I looked everywhere, but couldn't find anything. I sighed in annoyance. Usually there's something to follow, but this time…nothing. I gave up on the camp and started looking in the forest that surrounded it.

It took me about five minutes to find it. I called over to Katara to get over here. She came quickly.

I held the object out to her. "Do you recognize this? Because I sure do…" It was the first time I had ever had a conversation with her. And if I remembered correctly, I also tied her to a tree.

"OH! It's the waterbending scroll!" She took it from my hands and examined it. She unrolled the scroll reverently and a little slip of paper fluttered to the ground.

I picked it up and read the note.

One word was hastily scribbled onto the paper: _North_

"Katara?" I asked her.

"Yes?" she answered distractedly, still examining the scroll.

"Do you recognize this writing?"

She took the paper from my hand. "Umm…it looks like Sokka's." She read the note and looked at me. "North? Thats it? What does it mean?"

I smirked at her. "It means we go north."

* * *

**Ok, I'd like to take this chance to tell you that I wont be updating of Friday (4-2-01) like usual. My grades have recently been slipping, so I will take a whole week off of writing so I can hopefully catch up with school work and stuff. Also, I think I'm going to start running again, I've been getting out of shape recently. Sorry guys. I do have a oneshot that I have been working on for a while that I will post Friday instead, but I wont update this story. I will update the following Friday though.**

**And just cuz I wont be updating doesn't mean that I wont check my email, so feel free to PM me any time you want, whether or not its just to talk (btw, I love it when people do that) or you have a question about the story.**

**Ok, so please review. It means a lot to me.**


	10. The town

**Hey everyone! I'm back, did you miss me? I think that week off did me some good, I got a pretty good grade on my Geometry test so I guess it payed off. I enjoyed writing those 2 oneshots, so I hope you guys enjoyed them too! Ok, so anyways, back to the story.**

**Ok, I'm warning you guys right now before anyone tries to make a map of the Earth Kingdom by using my story as a reference...don't.**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"North? Are you sure?" she asked me.

"This is his writing, right? I think he's trying to help you out. He knew you were bound to come back eventually, so I think he wanted to give you a push in the right direction…literally." I explained to her.

She smiled at me. "Ok, so all we have to do is go north?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's the idea."

"Well then, let's go!"

I scrunched my nose at her hastiness. "Not yet."

"Well, why not?" We need to go before they get too far!"

I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly. "They are already two weeks ahead of us, its not going to make much difference if we leave now or not."

"So what are we going to do then, just sit here and let them get further?" she stared at me accusingly.

"Katara, I'm not new at this kind of thing. You need to trust me on this. Now, Katara, will you listen to me and do what I say?"

Katara seemed to think to herself for a minute, so I waited patiently for her reply, half expecting for her to yell at me that I don't deserve her trust, which I don't.

Katara looked at me for a long time and finally she answered. "Yes."

My breath seemed to whoosh out of me in relief. "Thank you." I said actually meaning it.

"So what are we going to do then, oh wise one?" she asked haughtily.

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, first we need to get supplies. All we have is my weapons, a dagger that I luckily am never without, the clothes on our backs, and the 100 silver coins I won back in town. We need to stock up on supplies unless you're planning on dying out here."

"Ok."

"While you were here, did you hear any mention of a nearby town?" I asked her, in hopes of a positive answer.

"She thought for a bit. "I think I remember Aang saying something about a town a few miles that way." She pointed to the north.

"Ok then, that's where were going then. Help me check over to see if they left anything behind that we could use." I told her and started looking myself before she could object. She limped around the camp site and started searching. All that we found was an apple and some of her brother's socks that I immediately burned because of the putrid smell they left off. I felt better as they turned to ash slowly in front of my eyes.

"Can we go now?" Katara asked impatiently after we had finished searching.

"Yeah, let's go." I gathered my things and set off after Katara whom was already ahead of me.

Her impatience astounded me. Before a few weeks ago, I had always thought that she was a calm, levelheaded person. But now that I had gotten to know her to some degree, I'd have to say that I was wrong. She is impatient, and had a huge attitude. Maybe I thought she was different because whenever I had fought her in the past, she had fought with a calm determination, not with her emotions. I realize now that a young scared girl is all she is.

We walked in silence in the beginning. I could have talked, I suppose, but I just didn't bother. Although I wish I could say the same for Katara.

Throughout the whole trip, she kept me busy with stories of her and her family, and her friends. Stories of her and her brother as a child. Old stories her father used to tell her. All of these stories made me miss my mother, and all of the experiences I had with her. I wondered if she was out there somewhere, looking for me, thinking of me. I got rid of those thoughts immediately; I didn't want to think about such things right now.

She seemed to be strangely open to me in telling me all of this. I was secretly glad that she was starting to finally let her guard down a little; it shows that I'm gaining some of her trust. Which is good if I am going to be traveling with her for a while. I did notice, though, that she never mentioned the avatar. It seemed to be taboo to her. I couldn't blame her really; I would probably do the same had I been in her position.

After traveling about the approximated distance, the town was still nowhere to be seen.

"Zuko?" Katara asked me.

"What?" I asked sharply, already a little irritated that we hadn't reached the town yet.

"I think we might be lost."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What?!" I yelled at her.

"I'm sorry; I must have gotten turned around somewhere."

"You think?" I asked sarcastically.

"Don't yell like that. It was an accident!"

"Well, accident or not, were still lost."

"What are we going to do now Zuko?"

I grabbed her forearm and pulled her further through the trees. "Just follow me."

I walked further through the forest and started searching the trees and rocks for any moss. At last I spotted some and I sighed in relief. It pointed to my right, and I dragged her along.

After a few minutes of walking, I finally started to hear the sound of life. Voices talking happily, the shrieking laughter of children, adults laughing at their own private jokes. All of this reminded me of my old home, and made me miss Iroh even more.

Katara gave me a look of gratitude and smiled at me in thanks.

I didn't return the gesture, but for some reason, her smile made me feel like there were butterflies in my stomach. But that's probable just because I was hungry…

"Ok, we need to get some food first, and then we'll buy what ever else we need." I told her and walked into toward the sounds.

"I can do that, in my group that was always my job." She offered.

"No, I'll do it."

"Let me, I need to feel useful. You've been doing all of the work, so let me help out a bit."

I relented and handed over the money, "Don't bother getting meat, I can hunt for us." She nodded and we walked out of the trees and into the light. "Meet me over here when you're done."

"Ok." She walked off towards the big crowd of people where the town's market is sure to be.

I sighed and leaned up against the wall of the nearest building, letting my hair fall across me face and hide my scar.

People walked past me like I wasn't even there, which was just what I wanted. It would be horrible if anyone recognized me for what I am, the banished prince of the firenation, and a traitor to my own country.

Realization hit me with the force of a boulder. I immediately started running toward the market stalls to find Katara. I had to find her before too many people saw her. The blue that Katara was wearing would be too easily recognizable and remembered. If Kanjou ever came here in the search of us, anyone that saw her would be sure to remember seeing a dark-skinned lady wearing blue.

I needed to find her, and we needed disguises as quickly as possible.

Finally, I saw her. And I was right, her outfit made her stick out like a sore thumb. "Katara!" I yelled to her.

She turned around and saw me just as I reached her. "What's wrong? I'm not done shopping."

I snatched the money out of her hand and spoke. "We need to get now clothes before we do anything else."

"Why, I like these."

"But they you are too recognizable."

She looked down at herself and frowned. "Is that how you always found us? Because of out clothes?"

"Yeah, all I had to do was ask around for anyone who saw any teenagers in blue, and they always did because if you look around, everyone is wearing green."

She looked around and frowned. "I feel bad though…you just got me this new outfit…"

"I don't care about that, c'mon, let's go."

I spotted a clothing shop and started walking towards it; she followed me as we came into the store.

It was a modest sized shop, not too big, but not claustrophobic either. There were lots of racks lined up against the walls with clothes hanging from them.

A lady suddenly appeared out of nowhere and addressed us.

"Hello, welcome to my shop. I am Lou Min, can I help you with anything?" she asked.

She wore small round spectacles and her graying hair was done up in a tight bun. I could see that she must have been pretty when she was younger, but her beauty had been replaced by wrinkles.

"Yes," Katara spoke up, jarring me out of my thoughts. "I need to find a new dress. Preferably, one that doesn't cost too much."

She looked at us from behind her spectacles.

"You are travelers, are you not?" she asked.

"We are." I answered warily.

She nodded to Katara. "That is a nice dress you have there, I would be willing to trade you a dress for it. And since you are travelers, this might be the best option; you won't have as much to carry around."

Katara looked at her dress wistfully and then at me. I nodded in encouragement and she sighed. "Fine." She said a little begrudgingly.

Lou Min smiled and took Katara by the hand, leading her further into the store.

I sat down on the nearest thing that I saw, which happened to be a box, and waited for them.

"Hello?" someone asked from behind me.

I jumped in surprise and turned around slowly to make sure my hair stayed in front of my face. Standing there was a little girl of about twelve. She had on ragged clothes which were torn at the bottoms. Dirt was smudged on her face and as she looked into my eyes I saw a certain sadness in them.

She looked at me sheepishly and walked over to me, making sure not to go into the store. "Sir? Can you spare a copper? I want to eat tonight, but my brother and I don't have any food."

A pang of sadness went through me. "You don't have any food?"

"No sir." She told me with tears welling up in her eyes.

I stood up and looked around for Katara, she was examining a green dress at the far end of the store. "Katara!" I called out to her and she looked up from her inspection. "I'm going to be right back, don't leave the store!"

She looked like she was about to object, but I left before she could utter a single word.

I motioned for the little girl to follow and she did, trailing slowly behind me.

"Where are your parents?" I asked her.

She looked down at her feet. "They were killed by some Fire Nation soldiers…"

Another pang went through me, but this time it was one of anger and disappointment. Anger at the men who killed this young girl's parents and left them, and disappointment at my nation, for allowing these things to happen.

"Where is your brother?" I asked her.

"He's hiding over there." She pointed over to one of the stalls, and I saw a little head duck out of sight.

"If you get him, I'll buy food for you both."

"Really? Thank you sir!" she turned around and ran over to her brother.

I waited patiently for her to come back, unaware that Katara was watching me the whole time.

She returned quickly with a boy that was clearly younger than her, but he was in the same condition as she was, ripped clothes, and dirty faces.

"Pick anything you want." I told them, pointing toward the food stalls.

They smiled brilliantly at me and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a meat stall. I smiled as they picked out the things that they wanted to eat, and laughed when they fought over the bread. Eventually, they finished picking, and I paid for all of their food.

We sat down, and I watched them eat happily. It seemed like they forgot all of their misfortunes, and sorrows. Maybe that's why I liked kids so much; they don't hate, and they don't dwell on their sadness.

They finished eating and thanked me profusely for the food and my kindness. The little boy even went so far as to give me a huge hug. But I wondered to myself if they would do the same if they knew who I really was and that it was my nation that killed their parents.

I knelt down and gave the little girl a hug, and as I did so I whispered into her ear: "I'm going to make sure that what happened to you will never happen to anyone else ever again."

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Thank you…"

I stood up, smiled, and headed back to the store, and as I did so, I saw Katara at the door watching me. She gave me a strange smile as I neared her.

I saw that she was already wearing her new green Earth Kingdom dress. It was much like the last one, but without so much detail.

"Now that you're done in there, we need to get food and a few supplies and then leave quickly, we don't want to stay in this town for too long." I told her.

She smiled again and we set off toward the market.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**Awww, we all secretely know that Zuko loves kids.**

**Ok, so next chapter will be really important in developing their relationship. But, gosh...I've been waiting this whole story for when I plan to write in chapter 11, and now I finally can!**

**p.s.- If you love Zutara as much as me, then you should listen the the song When the day met the Night ****by Panic at the Disco, ****I typically don't like these guys, but the song is totally awesome...who knew Panic at the Disco were Zutarians?**

**And I obviously got my lazy butt up and gave these chapters titles that aren't just numbers.  
**


	11. Understanding

**I'm saving any AN's until the end of the chapter.**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Ok, let me see the map we bought." I told Katara.

She pulled a map of the Earth Kingdom out of her sash and handed it to me. I grabbed it from her, unrolled it, and set it on the ground in front of me. I looked at it for a minute and memories of my past flitted through my head. Memories of hunting the Avatar, of traveling on my old ship. I suddenly shifted into Avatar hunting mode.

"Ok, listen closely." I motioned for Katara to join me. "While we were in the village, I asked around for any information of the avatar. Apparently, a young blind girl, and a boy carrying strange blue weapons were buying food here. They left and continued North. You follow?" I asked her.

"Yeah." She replied.

"They are probably waiting for you near one of these towns then." I motioned to a few towns that were north of us. "Each is about a few days journey…" I pointed out.

"Are you sure they are at one of those towns?" Katara asked me hopefully.

"Well, the note said North Katara...and these two towns are the only ones North of us..."

"I know, I know...but are _you_ sure?"

"Yes." I answered confidently. From what I have seen of them from battles, I could tell that the group would never leave someone behind. Least of all Katara. So I knew they'd be waiting for her somewhere not too far off, just far enough that Azula wouldn't find them.

I memorized where each of the towns were, rolled the map back up, and tucked it into my own sash. "Let's go now."

"Is there any way we could get there faster than walking? I don't want to keep the waiting." she asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "No." I answered curtly, annoyed at her laziness.

She looked like she was going to say something for a minute, but then she thought better of it and shook her head instead. "Let's go then."

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Zuko, c'mon, lets stop here." Katara complained. "My feet hurt and it's going to get dark soon."

We were walking through the dense forest, trees scraping at our sides as we weaved through the thicket. The canopy blocked out all light as we walked, but I could also tell that it was starting to get dark, firebending intuition I guess you could call it. I felt colder, the protective glove of the sun ebbing away from the earth, taking my extra strength with it. I felt vulnerable, and I did not like it at all. I felt susceptible to attack at any moment. The feeling made me shiver. I sighed and heated my body temperature, hoping the feeling of tranquility would return.

I sighed. "I want to cover as much ground as possible today."

"But we've been walking all day!" she complained again.

"Wow." I observed. "Considering how much time you guys travel, I was sure you'd be used to it by now."

"We're mostly on Appa, so walking isn't something we do as regularly as you." She turned away and added quietly to herself. "Unless we're running for you..."

"Do you still have the bag?" I asked her, ignoring her jibe and not even bothering to turn around to look at her.

I heard her sigh heavily from behind me. "No Zuko..." her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I can't handle the _one_ task you've given me this _whole_ trip bedcause I'm just so _irresponsible_...Of course I do!" her voice changed from sarcasm to anger.

I ignored her and went on brusquely. "Good, bring out the blankets and set up camp, I'll try to find us some food."

"OK, but don't forget your promise. When we get to the next village we have to get some proper sleeping bags…" She growled at me.

"It's not my fault the last town ran out of their stock, and it's not like we need them, its summer! I don't think it's going to get cold anytime soon." I tried to reason with her. I was a little reluctant to spend our money on something we don't really need, which is why I got the two blankets instead. We really only needed something to keep us off of the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" she muttered and dug the blankets out of the bag, throwing them unceremoniously on the ground in front of her.

I rolled my eyes at her and set off to hunt.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Rabbit bird again?" Katara complained upon my return, looking at the dead animals I caught.

"Well, if you don't want any… then I'll have your share." I snapped at her.

"I never said I didn't want it." She said childishly.

I rolled my eyes again and went toward the pile of sticks Katara collected in my absence. I began to arrange them in the typical cooking fashion.

"I swear, one day they're going to get stuck like that" Katara said as I set up the sticks.

"What?" I asked.

"Your eyes, you keep rolling them. My mother always said that they'd get stuck if you do it too often, and I've seen you do nothing but roll your eyes since I met you."

I looked at her for a while, memories of my mother flashed into my mind. "My mother used to tell me that too..." I told her and looked down at the fire's progress, hiding the emotion on my face. I blasted fire at the dry twigs and they burned satisfactorily.

I skinned, prepared, chopped, and cooked the food without saying a word to Katara. I was still absorbed in thoughts of my mother. Katara seemed to be lost in her own thoughts anyway, so we both ate in silence, although it wasn't awkward.

The sun was completely gone by the time we finished eating and everything, so we decided that we'd just go to bed now so we could get up earlier and get a head start tot he town. With any luck we'd be at the town by tomorrow.

We both went to our separate blankets and I soon drifted off to sleep thinking about my mother.

_I was sitting at a familiar pool of water, my mom resting leisurely next to me. She reached into her robe, and I looked at her quizzically. She smiled at me and pulled her hand out, revealing breadcrumbs. I smiled back at her as she handed me some. I thanked her quietly and threw a large chunk into the water._

_The turtle ducks swim up to it, but they soon swim away, discouraged at its size._

"_That's too big for the turtle ducks Zuko; they won't be able to eat that." She tells me in a soothing voice. "You have to do it like this."_

_She broke a large chunk of bread into small pieces and let her hand hover just above the waters smooth surface. A baby turtle duck squawked and immediately swam up to her hand, pecking at the offered food._

_I smiled at my mom and pick up a stone. "__Hey mom, want to see how Azula feeds turtle ducks?" I asked her and threw the rock directly at a turtle duck._

"_Zuko! Why would you do that?" My mother chastised me._

_I looked away, no longer able to make eye contact with my mother. I stared at the now rippled surface of the water, hoping the turtle duck would appear again so I could give it more food as a peace offering._

_Luckily, the baby turtle duck bobbed back up to the surface unhurt; his shell protected him from the rock. The baby turtle duck blinked at me and shook his head as its mother swam up next to it, and it seemed to me as if it was asking its child, are you okay? After a few squawks from its child, the mother turned its attention to me, satisfied that its precious child was unhurt. She then swerved around and bit me in the foot. I let out a small cry of pain as I landed on my butt_

_My mom kneeled next to me, removed the angry turtle duck from its grip on my foot, and put it back into the water._

"_S__tupid turtle duck, why'd she do that?" I asked my mother while rubbing the sore spot on my foot._

_She sat back next to me. "__Zuko, that's what moms are like." __She put her arms around me and squeezed comfortingly "__If you mess with their babies..." She bit into the air for emphasis. "They'll bite you back."_

_My mother enveloped my in a warm hug full of her love for me, and we laughed together until out stomachs were both sore._

My dream changed.

_I was in a vast arena, the fire light cast an eerie glow on the tall walls, making me feel trapped, closed in._

_The crowd cheered loudly, all around me, but I ignored them and stared at the marble floor. I needed to concentrate and remember all of the basics that Iroh had taught me, but I was failing miserably. I couldn't help but wonder if my father or sister was here watching me right now. Were they cheering me on or where they hoping for my defeat?_

_I shook my head, ridding myself of those thoughts and concentrating only on my steady breathing._

_Suddenly the gong sounded, and the Agni Kai began._

_I took a deep breath and stood up. My ceremonial cloak fluttered to the ground as I turned around, and stared at my opponent._

_I froze in horror, my mind went blank. I stared straight into the face of my father. The one person whom I thought would be watching me proudly, cheering me on._

_I felt dizzy and my knees wobbled._

_I suddenly realized my mistake. I disrespected me father, not the general._

"_Please, father, I only had the fire nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"_

_"You will fight for your honor."__  
_

_My knees finally gave out, and I fell to the floor, kneeling to my father, begging for his forgiveness. "I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son."__  
_

"_Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!" He demanded me. His golden eyes, that were so much like mine, were blazing.__  
_

"_I won't fight you." I lowered my tear streaked face to the floor, showing him my loyalty and submission.__  
_

"_You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."'_

_I heard a shriek of laughter from amidst the crowd._

_My father stood above me now, and I could feel a sadistic anger radiate off of him.__  
_

_I raised my face to meet my father's. Tears obscured my vision as I begged him with my eyes to let me live, to let me go._

_He smirked at me, and my heart permanently shattered. I let out one single defeated breath and waited for my imminent death. I didn't deserve to live. I disappointed my father, I deserved this._

_He raised his fist at me, and fear coursed through my entire being as fire burst from his fist._

"NO!" I screamed and my eyes snapped open and I felt myself thrashing on the floor. I felt cold hands grip my shoulders and hold me still. I flung my eyes open, expecting to see my father looming over me, preparing to deal the fatal blow.

Instead, I saw Katara hovering over me with a look of apprehension on her usually calm face.

I gasped in air as my eyes scanned our camp for any signs of Ozai. I suddenly got my common sense back and realized that my father isnt here, and it was just bad dream. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm myself down as my heart beat quickly in my chest.

"Zuko? Zuko? Are you alright?" Katara asked me with a worried look on her face.

I wiped the sweat off of my brow and rested my head between my knees in an attempt to calm myself down. I used to have that dream a lot when I first got banished, but why did I have to have it now?

"Zuko, its ok, you were just having a nightmare." She looked at me with a strange expression on her face, one that I couldn't place, but I also wasn't sure that I _wanted_ to identify it.

"I'm ok." I told her gruffly, my head still wedged between my knees as I tried to fight off the constant waves of nausea and anxiety that assaulted my stomach and mind.

"You were talking in your sleep." She informed me and my heart skipped a beat.

"Oh yeah?" I asked, disguising my fright with indifference. "What did I say?"

She just stared at me, not answering, her expression unreadable. I was getting awfully tired of not being able to read her face. It was then, as I thought about what her expression could have meant, that I knew what she must have heard. She heard everything.

She moved so she was kneeling right in front of me, her eyes piercing mine own. "What did your father do to you?"

My heart resumed its frantic beat, and I looked at her for a long time. Should I tell her? Would she pity me is she knew? Would she think anything less of me if she knew the truth? Why do I even care? I havent felt this nervous and conflicted in a long time. How could I possibly tell her that I was weak, and couldn't keep my mouth shut? Would she still trust me if she knew, or would she be disgusted with my weakness?

But I wanted her to accept all of me, and that included my past. For some reason her acceptance had become important to me, I decided to tell her. "Do you really want to know?"

Without hesitation, she replied. "Yes."

I sighed and began my long story.

"It happened two years ago when I was about the same age you are now."

"I was young and very stupid. I begged and begged my uncle to let me inside the war room where they were having a conference, just because I wanted to get some experience." I chuckled humorlessly and continued. "My uncle agreed to let me go in under one condition, which was that I wouldn't talk."

I took a deep breath and looked at the dark canopy above, I saw the large moon above me and let my breath out. "And I agreed."

Katara hung on me every word as I spoke, her attention encouraged me to continue telling her my tale.

"I sat and listened to all of the general's talk about attack strategies, not speaking, enjoying the feeling of being with such important generals, that is until General Shouli started speaking."

I looked into Katara's eyes. "He wanted to use the 41st division, which were all new recruits, as a distraction."

I was interrupted by a gasp from Katara, but I went on. "I felt it was wrong, so I made the stupidest mistake in my life...I told him how I felt. But by doing so, I broke the one rule I promised to keep, the only promise that allowed me inside in the first place...my silence. My outburst made the generals angry. Speaking out of turn was considered complete disrespect, and there were consequences."

She waited patiently for me to continue.

I turned away and shuddered. "An Agni Kai."

"What's that?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"A fire duel." I answered.

She nodded and I continued.

"I looked at the old general and declared that I wasn't afraid, that I was ready for him. But when the gong sounded and I turned around, ready to fight, it wasn't the general whom I faced, it was my own father."

Katara gasped again. "What? Why wasn't it the general?"

"By speaking out in my father's war room, it was the Fire Lord that I disrespected."

"I fell on my knees immediately and begged for his forgiveness. I refused to fight him. So he gave me this." I pointed angrily at my scar. "I was then banished for my weakness and given the task of finding the avatar just like all of my ancestors before me, only then can I return home with my honor."

"Oh Zuko, I didn't know. All this time I thought-" she couldn't finish her sentence and she burst into a wave of tears. "I didn't know that was the reason you wanted Aang so bad. Is that why you sided with Azula in the cave? Because you just wanted to go home or something?"

I didn't reply.

Katara let another sob go and then did something that surprised me greatly. She hurled herself at me and hugged my tightly.

I immediately tensed up. I sat there, frozen in shock and unsure of what to do. This kind of thing didn't happen to me everyday. But before I should respond at all, she let go and wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, you have nothing to be sorry for." I told her gruffly, my voice still emotional from bringing up my past.

"I just never knew…" she continued, staring at the fire's glowing embers.

I didn't reply to her, I just sat there, eyes closed, and thought about my dream. Trying to convince Agni that I deserved to go back, that I deserved to have another chance. But as I opened my eyes...I was still there.

Katara pulled my out of my thoughts, and surprised me by laughing. "Gosh, I've been such a jerk to you."

"No, all of your actions have been understandable. I've been a jerk to you all." I replied with a monotone, still depressed that I was still here and not in my bedroom in the palace.

"You know who's a jerk? Your father. If there was a being-a-jerk contest, he would definitely win."

I looked at her with a look of complete shock, I had never before heard someone say that about my father, sure...I've heard him be called a lot of bad things before, but I usually roasted them for disrespecting my father. I felt surprised that her disrespect to my kin hadn't made me want to grill her, it actually made me want to laugh. So I did, and as I continued, I realized that I couldn't stop.

Katara stared at me for a while. "Hey…you don't have to cry. It wasn't that funny."

But laughter, being a strange and contagious thing, couldn't stay away from Katara. We both laughed together until we could barely breathe, and then slept peacefully until the sun came up.

We woke up the next morning, and somehow...it was different. We were different.

* * *

**This chapter was a total butt to write, but I'm fairly proud of it.**

**I have seriously been waiting like forever to write the token Katara-finds-out-about-Zuko's scar scene. There were a million different ways I could have written this scene, but I like this way the best. And plus...we all know Zuko probably talks in his sleep. Oh yeah.**

**p.s.- Lol, I kinda already had the next chapter written and I was gonna post it up probably Monday as a surprise...but...inspiration hit me with the sudden force of a car going 75mph smacking into a stone wall...So I'm deleting that whole chapter and I'm starting again, and its gonna be so much better better better! I'm gonna go and start right now before I forget everything I plan to write.**

**p.p.s.- I'm telling you guys again...dont try to use my story as a reference to like the layout of the Earthkingdom...cuz if you do, it'd be totally wrong...**


	12. Loss of control

**So...you've all seen the NYCC trailer, right? All I have to say is that it was epic. Like seriously. I was so glad that I was the only one home at the time I watched it..I was screaming loudly and jumping up and down like a 5 year old after too much candy. Zutara is cannon.**

**Today at school I found out that my friend finally watched the trailer, and it was fun. He fanboy-ed and I fangirl-ed and we spazzed and glomped and had a grand old time! I'm so lucky to have a firend that loves avatar as much as I do, we like have discussions about the episodes every time there is a new one. And guess what? He knows Tai Chi! So he like totally waterbends! lol, I'm a dork! XD But remember guys...whether zutara turns out to be cannon of fannon...it will always live in my heart. And trust me...I will never, under any circumstances, be a kataanger.**

**And I would also like to issue a public thank you/apology to my beta...you are so awesome for putting up with my bad (though apparently amusing) spelling.**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"How much longer Zuko? We've been walking forever!" Katara complained loudly from her place at me side.

"We only have about a mile left to go, be patient." I scolded her.

"But it's so boring!"

"Maybe the trip would go a little faster if you weren't complaining so much." I suggested in hopes that she might actually stop talking and let me travel in peace.

"Can we play a game?"

I sighed, apparently not.

"What kind of game?" I asked her with mock enthusiasm.

"Umm… how about I spy?" she suggested.

"No way, that game is more boring than you are…"

She gave me a look of surprise. "Wow, Zuko actually made a joke…"

I sighed and kept walking.

I felt slightly offended at the fact that she thought me incapable of humor. I can make people laugh, if I want to, I just usually prefer not to.

"I swear, Zuko; you must never have any fun…"

"Not if I can help it." I joked again as if trying to prove to her that i do have a sense of humor.

Katara poked me, then screamed, "You're it!" and dashed off.

I stared at her, running off like an idiot, "Aren't we a little old for that?" I yelled.

Katara turned around, running backwards, "Chicken!"

Oh.

Oh, Agni no.

I ran after her.

"You're going to regret this!" I yelled as I gained on her.

She turned around, looked at me, and then laughed. "Whatever you say, Sparky!"

"Sparky?" I asked myself.

She laughed again and started heading up a steep hill, hoping that I'd get tired faster. She obviously had a lot to learn if she thinks I'd get discouraged that easily. I chased the avatar around the whole world, and she thinks I'd get tired if she ran up a little hill? Puh-lease. She did not know who she was up against.

I sprinted the rest of the way toward her and caught her just as she reached the top of the hill, but unfortunately she wasn't expecting me to. She stopped directly in front of me just as I was right behind her, but I didn't have enough time to stop. I ran right into her, and gravity took us down the hill in a tangle of limbs.

I heard Katara let out a shriek of laughter as we fell. Oh, yes…this is so fun. I let out a grunt of pain as Katara's elbow made contact with my stomach.

We finally stopped rolling as we reached the bottom if the hill and got back to level ground.

Her weight on my chest pushed my breath out of me in a whoosh. I was about to roast Katara into a pile of ash until I felt her breath on my cheek. It tickled my cheek with each exhale.

I opened my eyes and saw Katara's face only an inch from mine. Her eyes were still clenched tight from the fall, but her face was close enough to mine that I could feel the heat radiating off of her face.

Suddenly her eyes opened, and her eyes locked on mine.

I abruptly became hyperaware that there was only about two layers of clothes separating our bodies from touching. I got the urge to reach out and touch her face, trace the lines of her nose, her lips. And I panicked. I quickly rolled out from under her, and she fell to the floor with an audible grunt as I scrambled away from her in a vain attempt to hide my blush.

"Why did you stop?!" I yelled at her, frustrated that my deep blush wasn't going away.

"I saw the town, so I stopped to look at it. And besides, it's not my fault you weren't watching where you were going!" she yelled back, a light blush staining her cheeks.

"You saw the town?" I asked her, forgetting our almost-argument completely. "Where?" I looked around and then I saw it.

My heart immediately jumped into my throat, and my vision blurred slightly. I sat down on the familiar dirt road and just stared at the village in horror. I never thought that I would ever be back to this town again. Once I left, I never looked back, and now I'm standing almost at its doorstep.

Memories flashed through my mind. Lee's accusing face stared at me with anger as I offered him my dagger for the second time. The earth kingdom soldiers stealing my birdfeed. Teaching Lee how to use my Twin Dao swords. All of these memories just slapped me in the face, and I knew that I could never go back into the village. Katara would have to go without me.

I was suddenly aware that Katara had been talking to me. "Zuko, I asked if you were alright."

"You're going to have to into the village alone; I can't show my face there." I told her bluntly, offering no explanation.

Katara looked at me for a minute, and she saw that I wasn't going to budge, nor was I going to elaborate. She just nodded to me and took the pouch of coins from my outstretched palm.

"I'll be back soon." She said as she walked toward the village.

I sighed and rested my head on my knees.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

What was Zuko talking about? I asked myself. He said he couldn't show his face in that town, does that mean he's been here before? Usually when he goes into a town, he just hides his scar, so he must have been here before and knew that they might recognize him. I wonder what happened here to make him feel like he can't even come inside the town.

I started wondering what Zuko could have possibly done. Maybe he tried to burn this town down like he did to Kyoshi, but as I observed the town I saw that there were no scorch marks anywhere, usually such an attack would leave permanent signs. He must have done something to offend the town, and knowing Zuko, it's entirely possible. He probably let his temper get out of control and yelled at village elders or something. Whatever it was, it must have been bad.

As I walked away from Zuko and further into town, I decided that I would find out for myself no matter what it took.

I could tell that the town was very poverty stricken. All of the buildings looked like they had been around for hundreds of years, and looked like they would fall apart if you sneezed the wrong way. All of the town's people wore old and faded looking clothed, but they all seemed fairly happy. I could see that this was just another poor a farming town, so I couldn't help but wonder what this town had to do with Zuko.

I walked up to a young boy and stopped him. "Where can I go to buy supplies at?" I asked him.

He smiled at me and I could see that he was still missing some of his teeth. "There's a small store just a few buildings that way." He pointed further into the town and started running toward a group of young boys around his age.

"Wait!" I called.

He turned around impatiently, glancing at his friends and then back at me. "Yeah?"

"I heard the Avatar had come this way, did you happen to see him?" A total lie, I know, but I just wanted to make sure we were heading in the right direction.

The boys face was suddenly grim. "who are you?" He asked me.

"Katara." I answered, a little suprised.

His face immediately lit up. "The Avatar gave me a message for you just in case you ever came this way." He walked up to me and gestured for me to bend down so he could whisper something in my ear. "He said to tell you that he's waiting just outside the village of Ghanzao."

"Are you sure?" I asked excitedly.

He nodded his head and ran back to his friends.

I was filled with pure happiness as I walked further down the road. Eventually I came upon the small shop and went inside. There was already an older man inside arguing with the shop owner about an unreasonable price, so I just avoided the two and started looking trough the shelves.

There wasn't really anything worth buying, just some farm equipment, nothing that could be helpful to Zuko and I.

I decided I would just get done with my task and ask one of the bickering men about prince Zuko.

I shyly walked up to the store owner and tried to think of a way to bring the subject of Zuko up. I eventually decided on the best way and then asked him my question. "So, I'm not from around here, but I heard a rumor that the prince of the Fire Nation has been here before. Is that true?" I asked.

Both men stopped bickering immediately and just stared at me in shock.

I immediately blushed in embarrassment and started backing out of the shop. "Never mind, I'm sorry, I'll just-"

"Wait." The shop owner began. "Don't go…we were just a little surprised that someone's actually talking about him. The subject is sort of taboo for us."

"Yeah, no one likes to talk about him, well...at least after _that_ happened."

I walked back up to the counter. "What happened?"

"Well let's see…" the old man scratched his chin in thought. "It happened a while ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. A young man comes into our town one day and starts harassing the guards-"

"No, he wasn't," the shop owner interjected. "I heard it was that Lee boy, who loves near the water tower, who threw the eggs at the guards and then let the fire prince take the heat." He paused and laughed at his pun.

"Yeah, whatever." The old man crossed his arms childishly, angry at the other man for interrupting his story. "He ends up going to stay with the kid's family for a while, and a few days later he leaves."

The shop owner took up where the old man left off. "We end up having an incident with Lee; he attacked some guards, and they tie him to water tower as a sort of warning to others." He took a deep breath. "So the prince comes back and attacks the guards, trying to save the boy."

My eyebrows furrowed. I couldn't see anything wrong with what he did so far, but I let the man continue anyway.

"He pulls out his swords and gives the soldiers the fight of their life; he was quite good if I might say so myself, and sends them all running. So there's only one guard left, and he's the toughest of them all, well he starts using earthbending against him." He paused for a moment and continued. "The prince gets knocked unconscious and when he wakes up again, he gets mad and starts using firebending against him. He wins." He finished solemnly.

I blinked at them in confusion. How is that bad? He didn't do anything I wouldn't have.

The old man misinterpreted the expression on my face.

"I know! We kicked him out after that. How dare he come to our village after what he did to our nation?"

"What?!" I yelled at him.

The shop owner gauged my angry expression. "I agree with the young lady," He nodded at my expression, "I personally have nothing against the young man, since he did save Lee…" the owner of the store quickly backed out of the room leaving me and the old man alone.

I cleared my throat and began speaking. "Zuko didn't do anything wrong, why does everyone hate him?"

"My brother got killed in the war his ancestor started!" he yelled at me.

"So you blame him for something that happened 100 years ago?" I asked him angrily.

"No, I blame Sozin." He explained.

"Then why did everyone treat him like it was his fault?!" I asked him, my pitch rising.

"It might as well have been! Like father like son." he retorted.

"He is nothing like his father!" I yelled back at him.

"He must be terrible if even his own father, as evil as he is, scarred and banished him!"

By now, quite a sizable crowd had formed outside of the shop and they were all watching us with wonder. I didn't even notice them.

"You don't know anything about him!" I yelled at him, surprised at my own anger on the subject. I almost felt protective.

"You know nothing, little girl, you speak of him like you actually know him." He yelled at me.

"Yeah!" the crowd joined in, "Get out of our town you Fire Nation lover!"

"You know nothing about him! He is actually a kind, caring person!" I screamed, and I heard the water tower creak loudly. I tried to calm down before something bad happened.

"Get her out of here!" one member of the crowd yelled at us.

"You people are unbelievable!" I screamed at everyone. The water tower creaked again, but this time I couldn't hear it over the shouts from the crowd.

One member of the crowd came at me, grabbed my arm, and then started dragging me out of the store and through the crowd.

This made me mad, and I lost control. The water tower seemed to explode, and water poured out from the hole I created in the side. Everything suddenly seemed to slow down. I stood frozen for a moment, staring in shock at what I had done as a wave of water came straight at us in the form of a tsunami. Then my brain finally kicked back into gear. I stood protectively in front of everyone, arms in front of me, and faced the large wave stubbornly. I waited until I could hear the people behind me screaming in fear, smiled morbidly in triumph, and then I split the water easily into two parts. The water almost touched them as I led the water past the group and then joined the two waves back together so the water could continue its destructive path through the town.

I didn't care how ruined their town got; I was too angry to feel any kind of remorse for whatever wou8ld happen.

I stood there for a moment; chest heaving in anger as the water level slowly receded and sank into the dry cracked earth it longed for.

"Hey! Someone got hit by the wave!" I heard a little boy shout from behind me.

I immediately felt a pang of fear course through me.

I turned around, and sure enough someone was lying, unmoving, about twenty yards away on the wet ground.

I groaned and ran toward the person, and as I ran I saw that debris from the surrounding buildings scattered all around the person.

I immediacy felt so guilty I was about to cry, I couldn't believe I did something like this without thinking it through. In my anger, I hadn't even considered the possibility that someone might actually be walking somewhere further down the road. I hadn't been thinking at all. I had just wanted to show off, show them that they shouldn't mess with me, but now, through my ignorance, someone was hurt.

As I ran closer to the person, I couldn't escape a feeling of dread. What if the person was dead?

I shook my head and finally reached the poor person. I could tell it was a man, the hair and clothes told me so, but the person was lying on his stomach so I flipped him over, ready to examine him for any injuries.

And when I did so, I let out a small scream.

It was Zuko.

My heart contracted painfully in my chest as I stared at his limp body and blank face.

"No!" I heard myself scream, but the sound seemed to be coming from far away.

I grabbed Zuko's shoulders and tried to shake him awake, but he didn't arise from his deadly slumber. I felt tears leak from my eyes as I checked for his pulse. It was slow and erratic, and I knew it wouldn't last for long.

My mind suddenly flashed back to when I was with Aang at Kyoshi Island. I remembered him lying limply in my arms, water filling his lungs.

I put my hand to his lips and tried, through the sheer panic coursing through my body, to pull the water out of his lungs. His body jerked and arched towards me as the water streamed through his throat.

I heard the crowd behind me speak loudly to each other. Choruses of "Look!", "Did you see his face?", and "He's back!" all blended into one outraged hum of words in my mind.

Apprehension flowed through me, and I knew that I had to get Zuko out of here before the crowd did something rash. They were probably already furious with me, and now the appearance of Zuko would make them ever rowdier. I didn't really want to move him, afraid that I might somehow make it worse, but I needed to get us out of here so I could work on Zuko in peace.

I summoned water from around me and froze it into a long, thin, block that I could use to carry Zuko on. I didn't look to the crowd of onlookers for any help as I tried to carry Zuko onto the ice.

With one last glare at the crowd, I used all of my strength to heave Zuko's weight onto the block of ice, hover off the ground, and move alongside me as I walked, head held high, out of the town.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I sighed from my spot on the ground. I really felt kind of bad for making Katara go into the town alone, but I really couldn't ever go back there again. She wouldn't understand something like this, though. The world would think twice before insulting her.

I looked up and saw the green speck of Katara walking into a store, and I put my head back on my knees.

I sighed again and drew a few circles in the dirt out of pure boredom. She sure was taking a long time to get the supplies. I looked up to see if she had come out yet, but instead, I zeroed in on the crowd outside of the store. The same store Katara walked was currently inside.

I stood up, trying to get a better view of what was happening, but it didn't work. I rolled my eyes; Katara must have done something stupid, as always.

It wasn't until the crowd started getting a little rowdy, that I started to worry.

For a moment I debated whether I should go down there. Did she really need my help? And if she was really in trouble, then I needed to help her, she's my ticket to the Avatar, and it wasn't like I can just go back to my old town. I finally decided, after much deliberation, that I should go down there and see if she needed me, and if she didn't, I'd just sneak back here and try to avoid anyone whom might recognize me.

I stood up, brushed the dust off of my pants, and headed down to the town. I let my hair fall over my face, obscuring the top half, I hoped that by covering my scar with my hair, that they wouldn't recognize me.

I walked into the town and as I did so, I started hearing what the crowd was shouting.

It made me angry to see that they were yelling at her to get out of the town, the same thing that happened to me not to long ago. I stormed up to the crowd and was just about to roast them all, but then I heard her voice shouting above all of the rest.

"You know nothing about him! He is actually a kind, caring person!" I heard her scream.

She was defending me? She thought I was nice and caring?

I was just about to thank her for her kind words, but the crowd split and I saw someone grab her arm and jerk her in my direction roughly.

I suddenly got very mad. He was mistreating my friend, and I would not stand for that. My mind was numb with anger, anger I didn't even know I possessed.

These people put their hands on Katara. That was the last straw.

I was walking toward the crowd when I heard it. A very loud creak. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked toward the water tower, but it was too late to react. Just as I was about to try to avoid the massive wave, Katara split it in two. I immediately stopped and sighed. Duh, I thought to myself. She's a waterbender, she could easily protect the village. I watched in awe as she lead the massive wave around the crowd, and then back together into a massive wall of water heading straight toward me.

I didn't even have time to run.

It hit me hard, knocking all of the breath out of me as the wave flipped me around. I couldn't breathe, but I gasped for air anyway, swallowing mouthfuls of water. My lungs felt as if they were about to explode, but I couldn't do anything about it as I drifted with the tide of the water, dazed and battered, carrying my off to only Agni knows.

Time seemed to freeze.

I thought that before I died that everything would go in slow motion; every detail of everything would be made apparent to me. I heard that when you are about to die, your life flashes before your eyes, but mine didn't. And to tell you the truth…I felt a little left out. Instead, I thought about friends…yes, friends. I thought about how I never really had many of them. I thought about Jeck and Tayote, two of the few people that had been stubborn enough to stick with me no matter how much of a jerk I was to them. I realized just how much I missed them, though if you would have told me I would be thinking this a month ago; I would have thought you were crazy.

I thought about my cousin Lu Ten. I imagined what it would be like to finally be reunited with him in Agni's warm embrace.

I thought about Katara emerging from the lake, beads of water dripping off of her tan skin. Her cheeks shining as she bit her lip to stifle a laugh-

Slow down Zuko…where did that come from? Rhetorical question of course. Why, when I am about to die, did I think about such weird things? I tried to put together a few scattered pieces of a puzzle back together again, and I realized that-

-I liked her.

Oh dear Agni, I liked her a lot.

It wasn't only that she was beautiful. She was also strong, intelligent, and independent. She was so much like me, we're both incredibly stubborn, which is probably why it took me until this moment to realize that I liked her. We were like two true examples of Yin and Yang.

I looked back at myself before I saved her. I was angry, vindictive, and sadistic. But she completely broke me; she slowly changed me without myself even noticing it until now. She turned my anger into compassion, my sadistic behavior into kindness. She changed me into a better person. She is the only person that has ever done that for me, even uncle couldn't change me the way she did. It scared me a little to find out someone had so much power over me. I felt powerless, yet thrilled at the same time.

This thought made me smile as my vision faded into blackness as I surrendered my life to the water, to her.

It seemed like I was only gone for a second before I felt a pain in my stomach. It was such an intense pain, that my heavy eyes snapped open.

Katara, with her face stained with tears, was pounding mercilessly against my chest.

I immediately started into a hacking cough that made my throat burn. Katara stopped hitting me and then shrieked in surprise.

"Zuko!" She yelled and grabbed my shoulders, jerking me into a sitting position.

My head pounded painfully, and my chest hurt with every intake of breath. I could do nothing but stare at her blankly.

"Zuko?" she asked worriedly and wiped away the wet tears from her face. "Are you ok?"

I shut my eyes tightly, my headache making it impossible to think of anything intelligible to say. The best I could do was moan painfully.

"Good." she sounded relieved. "You had me worried…I thought I killed you!"

"You almost did…" I forced myself to rasp out, and I got hit with another wave of hacking coughs.

"I'm so sorry, Zuko." She apologized seriously, looking into my eyes.

"Next time-"

She cut me off. "There won't be a next time." She promised.

I raised my eyebrows at her and continued. "_Next time…_you need to make sure I'm not in the way of your water before you let it loose." My voice seemed to be regaining its strength.

Katara flopped on the ground, resting on her back. "I'm really sorry…when I saw you lying there on the floor…" She didn't finish; instead she closed her eyes and lie there on the ground, breathing in and out of her slightly parted lips, chest rising and falling with each silent breath. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair disheveled, but to me…she never looked more beautiful.

My heart tightened as I remembered my little revelation I had while I was drowning.

I stood up, and she motioned for me to help her up too.

"If you were there the whole time, why didn't you at least help me out?"

I took an involuntary step toward her.

"Wait…if they saw you, they would have attacked you!"

We were only two feet away.

Another step.

"What were you even doing in the town anyway? Why did you come?"

We were only inches apart.

"I don't know…" I answered her.

She suddenly took notice of our close proximity, and a blush appeared on her face.

"I really don't know." I reached up and cupped her cheek.

I pulled her toward me, and our lips met.

She immediately tensed up and my heart fell into my stomach. I released her from my grip and took a step back, and awkward silence descended on us.

I didn't really want to look at her after what I just did, so I just stood there for a second. When I finally raised my eyes to meet hers, she was staring at me with an expression I couldn't place.

I mentally kicked myself for thinking that the feelings I have would be mutual, and tried to save our friendship. "I'm-I'm sorry if I was too forward, I just-"

Katara didn't even let me finish. She grabbed the back of my neck with both of her hands, and before I knew it, our lips were melting together.

I forgot everything in that moment. I forgot about my father, my sister, the town, and my apprehension about reuniting with the Avatar. In that moment, all I could think about was the feeling of Katara's soft lips against mine.

Her lips moved against mine slowly, unsurely, but the kiss still gave me hope, hope that this wasn't all in vain.

I felt my hand tangle itself in her hair as I closed the distance between our bodies, pressing them flush together.

When I deepened the kiss, I felt as if I had been tossed into the ocean, with waves crashing around, over me, drowning me, but what I realized with a jolt of shock was that I had no intention of fighting off the waves crashing in over me. I would gladly accept this death of myself if it meant that I would get these feelings coursing through me every time I kissed Katara. And yes, I hoped that there would be many other times.

She pulled away first and stared at her feet in embarrassment.

When she finally looked up again, she spoke softly to me. "Ever since the first moment I lay eyes on you at the south pole, I've thought of you as nothing more than my enemy, a vicious, spoiled little brat…but now…I know the real you. And the real you is compassionate and kind…someone I could learn to love." She looked me in the eyes, and then quickly looked down again, blushing.

I smiled at her and pulled her into a hug, and this time she didn't hesitate hugging me back for a second.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**AHHHHhhh! The moment you've all been waiting for, the Zutara! This marks the beginning of their epic relationship, and now I can finally start the fluff! YAY!**

**For some reason my email refuses to let me get any emails from this site and I tried to dink around and see if I accidentally blocked them or something, but I don't think I did...so since I'm for the most part technologically impaired, I had to make myself a new email just specifically for reviews and updated and stuff...but whateves...  
**

**Ha, I sacrificed my test grade for this chapter...lol, oh well...I was already doing bad in that class...**

P.s.- they will reunite with the gang, be patient. Give me a few more chapters so I can have my fun.


	13. Bitter cold

**This chapter was a pain in the ass...I don't really feel like typing the reason out again, so I'll just copy part of the email that I sent by beta.  
**

**Ahhh...this chapter was a complete ass to me...It wasn't hard to write or anything, but our computer crashed yesterday before I did my weekly flash drive update so I lost this whole chapter. Then I had to search both of my fanfiction notebooks for what I wrote (thank god I write it in there first then type it at home.) then I had to put it all on order then I had to type it all up again. (and it was a lot too...) But I ended up loosing the whole ending part and then had to rewrite it from memory, its not the same, but I think this is better.  
**

**-sigh-**

**Overall...not fun.**

**It better be worth it.**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"So you carried me all the way out of the town?" I asked Katara.

She smiled at herself. "Yeah, on a sheet of ice." She clarified. "You're quite heavy, did you know that?" she asked mockingly, smiling at me.

I blushed lightly and looked away. "And at what point did you decide to start hitting me on the chest?"

"I was not 'hitting' you on the chest, for your information I was giving you CPR." She informed me with a slight edge to her voice.

"Really?" I imagined her lips on mine again, and it caused me to blush. I tried to cover up my embarrassment by inflicting some on her. "How was it?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrow.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'm sure it would have been more pleasurable if you hadn't been unconscious."

I coughed to cover up my laugh.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence as we walked. I couldn't help but think about how Katara was compared to my girlfriend before her, Mai. Compared to Mai, Katara was like taking a dip in a cool lake on a hot summer day. Katara actually listened to my problems and tried to make me feel better, like when I told her about my scar. The only thing Mai ever did for me was tell me to stop being a baby, and then try to kiss me. She's like winter, cold and emotionless. Katara is like summer, warm and understanding. Hell, Katara's more of a firebender than Mai was.

In short, I liked Katara a lot better than Mai. Don't get me wrong though, I did like Mai, but she was more of a friend than anything else. Katara was someone I could see myself still with five years from now.

I sighed and felt the back of my hand brush accidentally against the back of hers. I blushed and looked away from her. Suddenly, I felt her hand shyly brush mine back. I took a deep breath and reached for her hand, lacing my fingers through hers. I didn't want to look at her for fear of her gaze, so I looked to the side instead. My heart did a flip as I felt her grip my hand back, and as I spared a sideways glance at her, I smiled when I saw that she was also looking to the side with a blush on her face.

I cleared my throat and brought up our destination. "Are you sure that little boy said Ghanzao?" I asked her, already sure of her answer.

"Like I said before, yes. I'm sure of it."

"Hn…" I looked at her and smiled. "You know, that's pretty smart of them."

"How?" she inquired.

"Well, they left us a note telling us where to go, but they knew that Azula could have found it so they changed directions on us. And you said a little boy told you where to go, right?" She nodded her head, "Well, Azula would never think to ask a little boy such an important question, she would go straight to torturing it out of the adults."

"Wow, you're right!" she seemed surprised and proud. "I guess I never really thought about that..."

We laughed together for a while and then continued on the path in silence.

I sighed and looked up at the sky.

"We need to stop soon and set up camp." I told her, while staring at the dreary overcast that had settled over us. I was surprised to see that such a nice summer day like this one had cooled down so much. Maybe Katara was right, we probably should have bought sleeping bags at the last town, and it really looked like tonight was going to be a cold night.

Katara looked up at the sky as if to make sure. "Oh no…" she suddenly groaned.

"What?" I asked, worried that she might have seen Kanjou or something.

"It's going to get really cold tonight…" she sighed and rubbed her temple. "And we don't even have a tent." She added.

I shuddered as a cool breeze wound its way through the trees and met my skin. "Are you sure?" I asked while subconsciously raising my body temperature.

"Yeah." She said confidently. "Those clouds won't be budging."

"Ok, let's set up camp and build a fire." I let go of Katara's hand and we both began gathering wood for a large fire that would hopefully last all night, I lit the wood after we set it up and we sat around the warm fire, eating apples we had picked off of a tree earlier today.

"Do you think they miss me?" Katara asked out of nowhere.

I looked at her for a minute, she had her head resting on her knees and she was staring blankly into the dancing flames of the fire. I could tell that she was genuinely worried. "Katara…" I crawled around to where she was sitting near the fire and sat cross-legged next to her. "I'm sure they miss you."

She looked at me and smiled lightly. "Are you sure?"

I nodded my head and then got list in my own thoughts. Did Iroh miss me?

Katara seemed to have read my mind. "I think Iroh misses you too. He's probably going crazy with worry." She placed her hand on my shoulder gently in a comforting manner.

I smiled at her, but it didn't reach my eyes. I still wasn't sure that Iroh missed me. He's probably sitting at home, drinking a nice steaming cup of Jasmine tea. He was probably finally glad to get rid of me, and now he could open up a chain of tea shops all over the Earth Kingdom because I was finally out of his way. Well…at least he's better off there than I am here.

Suddenly, a large gust of wind, cold as ice, blew through camp. The fire went wild from the extra fuel, and I had to use my firebending to calm it down before we got hurt. My hair whipped around my face, and my thin traveling clothes rippled with the force of the gust. The second later, the wind was gone, and the only evidence it ever came was the goose-bumps it left on my skin.

I immediately compensated for the sudden loss of body heat by heating my temperature up until I was practically sweating. I sighed in relief.

"Lucky…" I heard Katara mutter between clenched teeth.

I glanced over at her and couldn't help but be pleased by her discomfort. Mean, I know I should be sympathetic, but cold as it is, my firebending skills could get pretty handy…

Katara was shivering, and her teeth were chattering loudly as she tried to hug herself for warmth. Her breath came out in little puffs of clouds, and she tried to angle her body towards the fire, but as her front turned warm, her back was left exposed to the cold.

I formulated a plan in my mind and immediately put it into action.

I pitched up my body heat so that she could feel it from where she sat, and I used all of my concentration to direct the heat of the fire away from her so the only heat she felt was from me. It took a while, but once it worked, her reaction was immediate. I tried not to laugh when her head whipped in my direction as I watched out of the corner of my eye. She glanced back and forth between me and the now useless fire as if she were having a huge internal argument. And after what seemed like an eternity, she caved.

"Um…Zuko?" Katara stuttered out, embarrassed.

That was all of the encouragement I needed. I was on my feet in a second, and in another, I was kneeling behind her. I slowly, as if savoring the moment, wrapped my arms around her, and she sighed, leaning into my chest. She sat there, curled up into a ball on my lap, and smiled, relaxing into the heat of my chest. I contemplated sharing my knowledge of the best ways to share body heat, but as a blush appeared on my face, I mentally kicked myself for even considering it. I heard Katara sigh, and she melted further into my warm embrace.

I smiled at her and rested my forehead on the crook of her neck.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but as I was dozing off, we were both jerked awake by another gust of glacial wind. I tightened my grip on her, and she shrank further into my warmth, using me as her personal windbreaker. The fire died in the gust, and all that was left of it were a few glowing embers. Darkness assaulted our camp and I had to pull one arm free of Katara's death grip to provide a small palm sized flame for light.

"We should get to sleep." Katara said, getting up a little reluctantly.

The loss of her warmth felt like the loss of an appendage.

"Yeah, you're right…" I stood up and shyly kissed her on the cheek. "Good night."

She smiled warmly at me, and we both separated onto our blankets. Katara seemed to fall asleep almost instantly, but I stayed up for a long time just staring at the dark canopy of trees. And when I finally did fall asleep, I dreamed of the sky.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I rolled over again for what seemed like the millionth time. My arms reached around my middle as I curled up in a ball as if trying to trap what little body heat I still had inside me. But it was all in vain. The harsh cold seemed to seep into my very core and I wished that I still had my parka with me. I started to feel a little ashamed of myself. I had been really spoiled with the warm weather lately, back in the South Pole it used to be twice as cold as this. My Gran Gran would be ashamed of me. Compared to the South Pole, this was a hot summer day. But none the less, I was freezing my butt off. Nothing I seemed to do help me either, and all I had was one blanket.

I loudly cursed Zuko's sleeping form; half hoping he could actually hear me.

Wait a minute…Zuko!

That stupid, warm, comfortable firebender! He's probably over there, perfectly warm, while I'm lying here suffering and most likely on the verge of hypothermia. I wouldn't be surprised if he's dreaming of a nice hot summer day on the beach, while I'm practically frozen to the floor.

Wait another minute…Zuko's a firebender! Well, duh, Katara, your brain must be frozen too if it took you too long to realize that. So Zuko's a firebender, yes…we've already established that…that means he must be very warm, so just like earlier today (I blushed the memory) he's easily be able to warm me up. So if maybe if I go over to him, ask him nicely, and maybe even bat my eyelashes a little, he'll share his bountiful warmth.

I smiled at my brilliance, although a little slow in coming, gathered my blanket, and made my way across the fire toward him.

Zuko was lying sprawled lazily on his back, his arms and legs seemed to be strewn about recklessly. I smiled at his cure carelessness; he never looked as vulnerable as he does now. His mouth was open and his lips were curved slightly upward in an almost-smile. Overall…he looked very attractive. I almost felt guilty that I was going to disturb his peaceful slumber…almost.

I knelt by his side and gently shook his shoulder. His shoulder was just as I expected it to be, warm and toasty. I smiled and waited for him to wake up, but to no avail, he didn't even twitch.

I sighed and tried again, this time with a little more force. He did nothing but mumble something unintelligible in his sleep.

"Zuko!" I yelled, and all he seemed capable of doing was shift his arms so that one rested over his eyes.

"It's like trying to wake up Sokka…" I mumbled to myself.

A violent shiver racked my body and left me unable to stop shaking for a long time.

"Oh, screw it!" I yelled in frustration.

I stood up and shook all of the dirt and twigs off of my blanket and then kneeled back down next to Zuko. I roughly pushed him over to make room for myself, and I mean roughly, and then flopped myself next to Zuko awkwardly.

As my side touched his, I couldn't suppress a sharp intake of breath. He was so warm! I immediately draped the blanket over us and I snuggled deeper into his side.

I shivered violently again, but not because of the heat, but instead because of the intense heat that seemed to be flooding through me. It was like a fire burning deep into my soul. I felt like I was a firebender.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

The first thing that I noticed when I woke up was that the sun was abnormally bright, although it was still a little chilly. The sun was too high in the sky, which meant that we definitely overslept.

The second thing I noticed through my morning haze was that there was a blanket draped over me. This puzzled me for a minute, but I quickly dismissed it, I couldn't really care less if Agni himself put it there.

The last thing I noticed, although as I look back on this…it should have been the first thing I noticed, was that I wasn't alone. My little guest and I were in a very intimate position. We were both so close that we were almost one. Katara and I lay on our sides; my arm was wrapped around her waist as my other one was used as a pillow by her. Her head was at my shoulder, and I could feel each of her breaths caress my skin. Her lips barely brushed my arm, but the touch sent fire through my system.

Our legs were tangled together so bad that I didn't know where mine began, and her legs ended.

I didn't move, I didn't breathe, I didn't even think. I couldn't, I didn't want to. I felt that if any part of me moved, this moment would be shattered, never to return again, dispelled completely.

I stayed comfortably in this state of mind until Katara decided to shift in her sleep. She seemed to be trying to meld our bodies into one.

It was then that I caught on to the full weight of our intimate position. We had just officially 'gotten together' yesterday, and already we are like this.

I sighed, knowing I should move for my honors sake, but not really wanting to. And after a moment, I finally did get up, being careful to not disturb her sleep. It took a minute to untangle myself from her, but after what I did, I immediately felt better.

I stood up, happily arching my back in a satisfying stretch, and went to work on a breakfast of some kind.

I dug through our bag of supplies and smiled at its contents, we had plenty of spices thanks to Katara's thinking ahead. At the time I wanted to only spend money on sustainable foods, but she had insisted that we buy seasonings and spices. I dug around in our bag and all I found was some apples, which we have been having every day since our departure. I grunted at the offending piece of fruit and searched the bag thoroughly for anything else, but apples were unfortunately all we had.

An idea suddenly came to me, after a few minutes of consideration, and I decided to fix the fruit up so that it was good.

I got my dagger out and cut the apple into small slices, tossing the useless core, and sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg on each of the individual slices. I then heated them up until they were soft but not mushy, and then took a bite.

I moaned as the delicious taste exploded in my mouth, arousing my taste buds and waking up my senses.

I knelt by Katara's still sleeping form and shook her gently.

Her closed eyes clenched and she rolled over, moaning from being woken up. "Five more minutes…"

I smiled at her cuteness.

"Katara, we need to get up. We already slept in enough, and we need to get going."

Another moan.

I tried again. "We need to go so you could see your friends again."

She bolted upright immediately. "Let's go."

I suppressed my laughter and offered her the apple slices. She smiled at me as she accepted them and ate them happily. She praised the food between mouthfuls, and it felt good to have her pleased with me.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"The first thing I'm going to do is give Sokka a big hug." She began excitedly. "I never thought I would miss him so much."

"No doubt the first thing I'm going to do is apologize like crazy..." I sighed out.

"Don't worry." She said, taking my hand. "Give them time, like I said before..." She squeezed my hand. "Everything will work out."

I said nothing for a while, we just continued down the path to Ghanzao. "You're right. I'll just give them time..."

"Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

She stopped, and since our hands were connected, so did I. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

She sighed and looked down. "I don't think the group should know about us yet."

"You don't want them to know?" I asked with an edge of anger to my voice.

"No, no, no…well yes. At least not now." She added quickly.

"Why? Are you ashamed of me?" I asked, suddenly on the offensive.

"No Zuko, I'm not ashamed of you!" she yelled at me, loosing her temper.

I took a step towards her. "Then why don't you want them to know?" I snapped at her.

"Because Zuko…" she stepped in front of me, her face so close to mine that I could feel her cool breath as she yelled at me. "They don't know you, they think I still hate you, and if they knew…" her expression softened, but her voice stayed angry. "Sokka hates you, and Aang is afraid of you. They just wouldn't accept us being together, at least not yet…"

My voice also softened. "Then we'll just have to make them."

Katara's ocean blue eyes, only inches from my one, locked onto mine. "Zuko…"

I sighed and leaned forward, resting my forehead on hers. "Katara, is this what you think is best?"

She closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened them again, they locked onto mine. I saw every detail, every speck of color in Katara's eyes as she answered me. "Yes."

I sighed heavily. "Ok, but eventually…" I gently took her chin in my hand and brought her face up so that it was parallel to mine. "We will tell them."

She nodded to me, never taking her eyes off of mine, and then leaned into me, resting her forehead on mine again as I held onto her. I buried my face in her long thick hair and sighed. I was right, Katara is nothing like Mai. I smiled at the thought and took a deep breath, inhaling her scent. She smelled like a grassy meadow, like the ones I used to walk through with my mother.

"We need to find a time that we can be together, away from everyone." I added.

She smiled happily at me. "Sounds perfect."

I changed the subject. "Ok, so if we keep going at this pace, we should be at Ghanzao by tomorrow evening."

"Good, I can't wait to see the look on Sokka's-"

"Well, well, well…" Katara was cut off by an all too familiar voice. "Do you see that Mai? He's already replaced you."

Katara and I both tensed up and spun around, already in a bending stance only to be facing Mai and Azula.

Mai looked me in the eye, face blank, but eyes flashing dangerously with anger.

"And it's the water tribe wench too! Oh my!" she continued with a laugh.

I glanced around discretely for Ty Lee, but she was nowhere to be soon.

"Don't bother; she's not even here…" Azula said, inspecting her fingernails with a bored expression. "She's in Ghanzao, fighting the avatar."

I flinched at the mention of Ghanzao. How did she know?

"Why is she there alone? She could never defeat the avatar." Katara spat at her.

"Oh, I know…she's being punished for disobeying orders." She replied nonchalantly. "She didn't want to kill the oaf with the boomerang." She laughed. "Something about him being too cute…"

I stared back and forth between Mai and Azula, bracing myself for an attack.

"Well, I can see that they aren't really in the mood for talking…" she glanced at me. "Let's get this show on the road then, Mai, you can take care of Zuko, I know you've been wanting too. And I'll take care of her…" She glared at Katara. "I owe her for Ba Sing Se."

"My pleasure." Mai said in her usual monotone. She brought her arm back and a dagger appeared in her hand. She threw it straight at me, aimed right for my chest.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**Ha! Bet you weren't expecting that! And if you were, then I fail as a writer... -emo tear-  
**

**So...this is the pat where I threaten to kill off Zuko (cuz I totally could...) unless you review lots...**

**Ok, ok, ok...I'm just kidding...but I would still love for everyone to review.**

**-sigh- I have to commend the people who did not watch the leaked episode- The Boiling Rock...as for me...I have no self control. None at all. I watched it right after I heard it leaked, but I highly suggest that you wait to watch the episode (I know July is soooo far away, but...) Anyway, the only reason I watched it is because I don't have cable anymore, so the only time I can watch a new episode is when it pops up on the internet. So if you actually have cable, please wait until the ep officially airs, and if you don't have cable...then you're as screwed as I am...**

**P.s.- On a totally non-avatar related subject...I'm so happy! I got asked to prom! YAY! Crap...now I have to find a dress...**


	14. The battle

**I am so pissed off right now at nickelodeon…not for the usual reasons either (i.e.- episode dates) I'm not even that angry at nick for releasing the DVD with The boiling Rock episode early. No, no, no…I am angry at them because of this reason and this reason alone…**Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle** (If you don't know what that is, it's a children's book/magazine that nick will be releasing with comics and spoilers for the four finally episodes.) It turns out that this will be officially released on May 20th, and some people (who preordered it) may have it as early as this week! This means that they might possibly reveal the cannon ship!**

**That should make me happy, right?! NO! I am not happy at all! I don't want to be spoiled about anything! (As far at the last episodes are concerned). I want to enjoy the finally! I want to be surprised! I don't want to know which will happen: Zutara or Kataang! I'm not ready for that! I want to enjoy the last episodes as they were meant to be…I don't want to know anything beforehand. I always read spoilers when they come out, but for the last episodes, I was planning to avoid them like the plague. That means that until July, I'm going to try and avoid spoilers like a plague.**

**Nick is stupid…really, really stupid…**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"My pleasure…" Mai offered a rare smile as she brought her arm back. A small dagger appeared in her head, and I immediately rolled out of the way as she sent it soaring at my chest.

Azula smirked at Mai, and then went to work on attacking Katara.

"Mai, you don't have to do this!" I yelled while dodging more daggers.

She sneered at me. "Yes I do…you broke my heart, so I'm going to stop yours!"

I didn't use my bending on her as we fought (actually it was more like me defending and her fighting); I didn't do anything to her at all. I didn't want to hurt her, no matter what happened between us, she's still my friend. And I wouldn't hurt my friends, and I would never use my bending against someone who couldn't bend back.

"But Mai, I had to do it! I had to leave!" I tried to reason with her.

"No, you didn't!" she stopped throwing daggers and started glaring them at me instead. "You could have stayed with me, we could have been together!" A tear leaked out of her eyes.

"Mai!" I yelled, trying to get her full attention. "This is not about you, this is-"

She cut me off. "About her?" she spat in Katara's direction. Mai jerked her arms outward, catching me off guard and pinning me to the tree with her daggers.

"No this isn't about her!" I tried struggling loose, but the daggers held firm. "This is about the entire world!"

She stared at me for a minute and then her glare returned again. "Right…" she threw a dagger at me, and it hit me straight in the arm. Blood blossomed out of the wound and onto my shirt, then the pain came and I couldn't stifle my cry of agony.

"Too bad Kanjou didn't do his job, if he did, she would be dead, and we could still be together." She glared at me and threw a dagger, landing it between my legs, just missing my…well…

I quickly looked over at Katara for the last time, for Mai was surely going to kill me. I could see Katara fighting with Azula fiercely. All of my apprehension vanished, I didn't need to worry. Katara, unlike me, was a great bender; she would definitely be able to defeat Azula and then find her way to her friends without me.

I wrenched my eyes off of Katara and then stared Mai straight in the eyes. I was no longer afraid.

Mai held another dagger in her hand. "I'll consider this one a favor to the firenation…" She brought her hand back to throw, but suddenly a ball of ice hit her on the side of her head. I gasped in surprise. Her glare softened and her eyelids drooped to a close, she fell limply to the ground. The dagger that would have surely ended my life now clattered audibly to the ground.

I whipped my head in Katara's direction only to see her looking my way, chest heaving. A small smile on her lips.

I saw Azula out of the corner of my eye. I yelled out to Katara, but it was too late. A ball of fire burst from her fist and hit Katara square in the stomach.

Everything slowed down as her face contorted into a look of pain. The force of the blow made Katara stagger back and fall to the floor.

My knees seemed to weaken temporarily, but the dagger held me upright.

Fury overtook all rationality.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, I was able to break free from my bonds and charge at my sister, taking her by surprise.

She had probably thought I'd use firebending on her, but hand to hand combat would be way more gratifying to me. My fist came in contact with her stomach, and a grunt of surprise escaped her lips. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I registered that this was my little sister, and I knew I shouldn't punch my family members, least of all a girl, but then another thought overpowered that one…she's not my sister at all, a sister would never have tried to get me killed, a real sister wouldn't suffocate me in my sleep just for laughs. I suddenly didn't feel one ounce of guilt as I punched her again. And thankfully, for what I lacked in firebending skill, I made up for in brute strength.

Azula struggled to fight back, but in her state of shock, I was able to send her to the ground with another punch to the cheek. I straddled her and held her lethal hands down by her wrists.

I was just about to hit her again, but a pain so agonizing that my vision blacked temporarily raced through my back. I fell off of her, withering in pain on the cold, unforgiving ground.

Azula stood up and smirked, whipping off a bit of blood from her cheek. "Oh Zuzu…you forgot about my feet." She said with mock sympathy. "Hmmm…I don't think dad would mind if I gave you another scar to mach, you know…to make you're face even."

She brought back her fist and readied her punch. Images of the Agni Kai spun through my head.

Suddenly, Katara's form flew out of nowhere and her shoulder hit Azula square in the stomach, tackling her to the ground. They both fell with a thud on the dry, cracked ground.

I sat up quickly; ready to come to Katara's aid, but the pain in my back proved too severe. My mouth opened in a silenced scream of anguish as the agonizing pain emanated from the fresh burn on my back.

I could do nothing but watch as Katara and Azula continued their fierce battle.

They fought as a very close range, Katara making good use of her bending skills and her fists. I had never seen Katara fight like this. It was great and terrible sight to behold.

Azula, who had always been successful in battle because she was able to predict her opponent's moves, seemed to be completely on the defensive. Katara punched, kicked, and bent with the complete lack of predictability that left Azula unable to keep her usual calm exterior.

Katara sent a quick jab at Azula and used a water dagger in the other hand against her as she blocked the punch. She took a slash at Azula's arm with the ice, and Azula let out a cry of pain and looked at her wound.

This was the distraction she needed.

Katara closed her eyes tightly and her eyebrows scrunched together. She quickly brought her arms out, arms parallel to the ground, hands and fingers tense, and brought them together again, pulling water out of the surrounding trees. She encased both of Azula's arms in water, and then did something Azula and I both didn't expect. She brought her head back and then forward again, crashing her forehead into Azula's in what looked to be a powerful headbutt.

Azula's eyes rolled back and her head rolled back limply.

She released her element and Azula's unconscious body fell to the ground.

Katara swayed on her feet and I burst into action, trying my best to ignore the intense pain, and caught Katara just as she fell.

It was as she lie in my arms that I finally got a good look at her. Katara's clothes were singed from battle with Azula, and her face was dirty. There were multiple burns on her arms and only long thin one on her cheek, but the biggest burn was on her stomach where Azula hit her right in front of my eyes. There was a hole in her green dress, blackened around the edges, framing the red and blistered flesh.

Adrenaline and fright was coursing through my veins, and I couldn't even feel my own injuries. I seemed to forget about them completely.

I checked her neck for a pulse, and it was beating strong. Katara would be fine; she just knocked herself out too.

A warning pinged through my mind, and I knew I needed to cover up my wound. I had no idea what it looked like back there, but from the pain, it had to be nasty. I didn't want Katara to worry about me when she needs to heal herself. I knew I'd be fine anyway; I'd suffered through worse burns than the one on my back.

Quickly, before she woke up again, I went to our bag and grabbed my vest. I stripped off my shirt carefully, pulled the sleeveless vest over my head, and then tied it around the middle with my sash.

I went back over to Katara and shook her gently. "Katara, wake up!" I practically commanded her.

Nothing.

"Katara?" I asked worriedly. Maybe she wasn't going to be ok…

Again, nothing.

"Katara!" I yelled, gently slapping her cheek.

Nothing.

"Katara, wake up!" This time I was begging.

Finally she a groaned.

"Katara?" I asked hopefully, adjusting her into a sitting position.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she let out a strangled cry as she brought her hand to her forehead with a look of pain on her face, she probably had a big headache. She looked up at me, and then in an instant, she flung her arms around my shoulders in a hug. I returned it gratefully.

"Ah!" She suddenly cried out in pain. She parted from me and looked at her stomach. "Damnit…" she swore and pulled water out of the wet mud to use for healing.

She formed a healing glove and covered her wound with the glowing water, healing it completely.

Katara sighed, her pain now gone. She frowned at the sight of her ruined dress; there would be no way to fix the large hole. She looked up at me. My bare arm showed my wound, the knife that Mai used was still in it. "Let me heal your arm."

"No, I'm fine, you just-" I began, but was cut off by Katara grabbing my arm, yanking the knife out roughly (much to my chagrin), and healed it anyway.

"Are you ok?" she asked me after she was finished, looking me over for any more injuries.

I tried to change the subject. I smirked at her as I thought of one. "Katara, forget about me!" I yelled breathlessly. "You bent water out of the trees!"

She immediately smiled widely.

She took my face in her hands and brought it level to her own. "I know! I don't even know how I did it! I just…I was desperate for water, so I just concentrated really hard and I sensed the water in the trees and then I…" She didn't finish, she couldn't stop smiling, chest heaving in excitement.

"I can't believe it! That's just-" I made a gesture with my hands. "Amazing!"

Katara nodded, still unable to do anything but smile at her accomplishment.

The battle ran through my head. I suddenly remembered something, my forehead scrunched up, and I suddenly burst into laughter.

"What?" she asked.

"You headbutted my sister!" I choked out between laughs.

She suddenly looked slightly embarrassed. "Oh my gods, you're right…" she said, joining in my laughter. "I can't believe I did that!"

I scooped her up in a big hug. "You are the best!"

She suddenly whipped her head around and looked at both Mai and Azula's unconscious forms. "Oh my gods…" She looked at me. "What are we going to do with them; they'll come looking for us."

"Crap. You're right." I acknowledged.

"Wait…" A wicked smile played on her lips. "I know what we can do." And she suddenly burst into action.

Katara ran to a spot in the clearing and gathered a large ball of water above her head. "Watch and learn…" she told me.

I scoffed at her, but smiled in spite of myself. Her happiness was contagious. Heck, if I found out that I could pull water from plants, I would be ecstatic too.

Katara slowly lowered the ball of water into the hard ground, willing it to sink deep into the earth, turning the once cold unforgivable ground into a vat of mud. Katara got into a nice solid bending stance, muscles straining in exertion as she started pulling the mud out of the ground leaving an empty pit behind. She held the large glob of mud above her head and smiled at me.

"Put them in the pit." She ordered, and I finally understood her goal.

I couldn't hold back my snort of laughter as I lowered them into the pit in a standing position. Katara let out a small laugh as she slowly filled the pit with mud. When she was done, she wiped her forehead free of sweat and once again began bending. She shut her eyes tight and lifter her arms to the sky. Water slowly began to rise out of the mud, leaving rock hard dirt behind.

With the adrenaline still pumping through our systems, we ran from the clearing, leaving Mai and Azula buried up to their necks in hard dirt.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Katara…" I began, out of breath from running so far. "We're almost at Ghanzao."

Thankfully, she stopped for a moment so she could catch her breath. "I really can't wait to see them again, it been way too long…" She paused for a moment, maybe she was reminiscing.

I smiled as best I could through the dull pain pulsing through my back.

She turned to me. "Zuko, I really can't thank you enough for all that you have done for me." She stepped in front of me. "I truly am grateful." She smiled at me, tears in her eyes.

As I took her in my arms, I couldn't help but think about how much this woman cries.

I abruptly realized something. This would probably be the last time for a while that I'll be able to hold her like this, or kiss her for that matter, so I'd better make this good.

Katara must have been thinking the same thing, because we both simultaneously leaned in. Our lips met gently at first, out kiss much like the first one we share, it was sweet and chaste, yet my head was still left spinning. I immediately felt weakened; my skin became ultra sensitive, every touch from her left my skin burning in its wake. Her scent swirled around in my head and left me in a state bliss, I forgot everything, my pain, my sorrow, I only thought about her.

She sighed into he kiss, lips parting slightly. I suddenly decided to take the initiative and deepened the kiss.

Katara gasped as my tongue entered her mouth, giving me more access to her. She tentatively responded to the kiss. The waves took me under again.

We stood there, kissing and holding each other, for an immeasurable amount of time, the world could have ended and we wouldn't have realized it, we only had eyes for each other.

At some point we decided it would be best to continue down the path to Ghanzao, but I couldn't tell you when that exact moment was.

After that kiss, I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**Sorry I'm posting this kinda late at night, but its still Friday!**

**Oh, and there isn't going to be any Ty Lokka in this story unless I decide to make it the one sided kind of thing coughkinda like Kataangcough What! Who said that? -walks away-**

**Next week: Zuko and Katara finally reach the gang! YAY!**


	15. Reunited

**Wow, I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter (although it took me a while to write). I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**And I hope you guys enjoyed the little drabble I posted! It was fun to write! I was even emitting little fangirl squees while I was writing it. (and I'm sure my classmates thought I was feaking crazy too) -Sigh- even though its short, I think its some of my best work.  
**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"We traveled for weeks, walking countless miles, battled my crazy sister, and you're telling me you don't want to see them?" I half yelled at Katara in exasperation.

Katara and I were sitting cross-legged on top of a grassy hill overlooking the town of Ghanzao. The town looked like a pretty nice place to live, at least from what I could see. A gate surrounded the small town, keeping intruders out, or its occupants in. People the size of ant beetles were bustling around the market doing last minute shopping before the shops closed up for the night. I followed a person with my eyes and watched as she went from stall to stall, trying to get a fruit perhaps. Two smaller looking people joined her, her husband and child I presumed, and they looked happy.

The buildings looked like they had been maintained well, and they had several wells for water scattered throughout the area. There looked like there was a lot of gardens and farms around also, so there weren't in any kind of drought. There was even a nice little community building located in the middle of the town. This looked like the perfect place for a traveler to restock supplies, a perfect place for the Avatar to visit.

"I want to see them." She corrected me harshly. "I'm just nervous."

"Why are you nervous? It's not like there going to tell _you_ to go away."

She didn't catch my assumption. "I know but…" She tucked her hair, which had been let down due to the strange weather, behind her ears nervously.

I rolled my eyes at her good naturedly and stood up. "C'mon, let's go before it gets dark." I held my hand out for her and waited for her to take it.

She stared at me for a moment, but then she reluctantly took my hand allowing me to help her up. I squeezed her hand reassuringly although I was anything but reassured.

I was just about to walk into the campsite of the boy I had chased around the entire world. I had fought and attacked him many times; I had insulted him and hurt his friends. If I hadn't been nervous, I would have thought myself crazy. I should be terrified right now, and believe me…I was. I just would have readily traded my worries for hers.

We slowly descended down the hill towards Ghanzao, careful to keep a safe distance from each other so that if the gang saw us, the gang wouldn't assume, although rightfully so, that we had become close. Our trip was silent, both of us were occupied with our own thoughts, but the walk was abnormally fast. Time seemed to fly and in what seemed like moments, we were at the gates.

The gates were large and intimidating and were guarded by two earth kingdom soldiers. They sat lazily on each side of the gate, staring blankly at our approach. They couldn't seem to care less about us, all that was on their minds was probably ending their shifts and going home.

One of them sighed heavily and stood up as we approached. "What is your business in Ghanzao?" The guard said in a bored monotone. Obviously, it was a question that he had asked thousands of times.

"We…uh…-" Katara began. She probably didn't want anyone to know that the Avatar was here, at least if they didn't already.

"We are travelers meeting with the other half of our group; we will restock and then leave as promptly as we can." I inserted.

He appraised us for a minute, a young man with his hair covering his face, and a young woman wearing a ripped and battle worn clothes. He turned to the other guard (Let's call him unnamed guard # 1)), and guard # 1 nodded to him. He turned back to us. "You may pass, but if we hear of any problems from you…" He patted the war hammer hanging from his belt.

Katara finally stepped up. "We won't cause any problems, sir." She nodded in thanks and entered the city.

I followed soon after.

We both walked stiffly and slowly, shifting our eyes back and forth for someone from the group. We subconsciously headed toward the mass of people swarming the market, hoping we would find them there.

We stopped in the middle of the market and just stood there for a while, watching out for a familiar face. People swirled around us as if in fast motion, but none of them were the people we sought. I glanced over at Katara. She was so tense she was practically shaking. I placed my hand on her shoulder gently and squeezed it lightly. She seemed to relax slightly.

"C'mon Katara, lets try the community center, maybe-"

"Zuko?!" A familiar voice rang out.

I spun around, looking for the owner of the voice. Iroh's. I heard him calling my name. Wait…it could have just been my imagination. I had been thinking of him since I life him, it could just be my subconscious trying to give me what I wanted. I wanted so bad to see him and apologize, that now I'm hearing voices, his voice to be specific.

Katara grabbed my forearm tightly, jarring my out of my thoughts. "Is that Iroh?" she asked excitedly.

I now knew that I, thankfully, wasn't going crazy. I continued my search for him, but it was way too crowded to make it easy.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw something speeding my way. I had just enough time to turn toward it before it collided with me. I stiffened in surprise as arms wrapped around me.

Suddenly, the scent of Jasmine tea assaulted my nose, and I knew that it was Iroh.

I immediately responded to the hug with vigor, wrapping my arms around him tightly. I missed him more than anyone. My enthusiasm must have surprised him because he paused, for a minute I thought he was going to pull away, but instead he responded better than ever. My back cracked as he squeezed tightly, mumbling about how much he had missed me.

I looked down at the top of his balding head. "I missed you too, Iroh…"

Iroh pulled away, a smile on his face, and tears in his eyes. "I have much to tell you." He looked over my shoulder. "And Miss Katara! It's nice to see you too!" He walked past me and enveloped her in a hug as well.

"How did you get here?" I asked. There were a million questions running through my head. How did he get here before us? How did he even know where to go? What happened to him after we left? What happened to Jeck and Tayote?

He detached himself from Katara. "I walked, of course!" He smiled at me.

I grumbled quietly to myself.. "No, I mean how did you get here before-"

"C'mon Katara, you must want to see your friends!" He cut me off and pulled Katara by the arm ahead of me. Iroh glanced back at me and winked, tossing something small and round my way. I whipped my hand out and snatched it out of the air before it hit the ground. I examined it curiously, it was fatter that a coin, but it was around the same size, and after a moment, I saw the flower. It was a white lotus tile from a Pai Sho set.

I sighed at Iroh, one day I would have to ask him about this secret society he belongs to, but right now I'll focus on getting to the group.

I decided to ask the question that had been bugging me since my departure from my house.

"Iroh." I pulled him aside and away from Katara, I didn't really want to involve her in this conversation. Katara looked at us, wondering why we stopped, and stopped. I gave her a meaningful look and waved her on. She sighed, gave me a look that clearly meant 'Tell me later or you're dead', and continued walking.

"Yes, nephew?"

"Do you know what happened to Jeck and Tayote?" I asked him.

He sighed. "That night I was taking a walk with Miss Junlie-"

I shuddered. "Junlie? Isn't she the one with the cat owls?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and I immediately checked myself. "She is a wonderful woman, nephew." My lip curled up slightly in disgust at the thought of his love life.

"We were walking near the forest that surrounded the town, and all of the sudden, we start hearing yelling and screaming." He continued.

He paused as we passed through a large group of people, then he continued on. "I left Miss. Junlie, which was quite rude of me, I'll have to make her tea sometime as an apology."

I cleared my throat to get him back on subject.

"So then I go over to where the fighting was coming from, thinking someone was getting mugged, but I found your friends instead."

My heart started beating quickly as he paused and his face went grim. "Well?" I prompted.

"Jeck was lying on the ground unconscious, and Tayote was badly beaten, but still putting up one hell of a fight."

I sighed. Good…they aren't dead then.

"Kanjou saw me and then ran away…" He shook his head and muttered the word coward under his breath. "I'm sorry Zuko, I would have gone after him, but I stayed behind for your friends instead."

"That's ok." I said, and it truly was. I would have never been able to live with myself if I had learned that someone died fighting one of my battles. And that was the reason I didn't want Katara to overhear us, she would have cried again.

"Tayote told me that you left, and I guessed you went to see the Avatar." He finished.

"Do they know I'm coming with her?" I asked stupidly

"I told them you were coming, yes." He said somberly.

I nodded to him and called out for Katara, she waited for us.

"So where is everyone?" Katara asked with unconcealed eagerness.

Iroh chuckled and no sign of our previous conversation held to his voice. "Follow me young lady, I will lead you there. We're camped just outside the town."

He led us out of the town and into the forest.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"We're almost there." Iroh announced after twenty minutes of walking. "Just a few more min-"

"Hey! Twinkletoes, boomerang boy…" I heard someone call off in the distance. "Sugarqueen is back!"

I turned towards Katara and mouthed 'Sugarqueen?' at her, but she wasn't looking at me. She was already running towards where the voices came from with a smile on her face. She didn't make it far before a streak of orange collided with her, knocking her to the ground. She laughed and hugged Aang back.

I turned away, willing myself not to get angry at the boy. He obviously missed her a lot, that's why he was hugging Katara. C'mon Zuko, he doesn't like her like that, he just misses her.

A few seconds later, Sokka came running full tilt towards Katara, and practically jumped onto the growing pile of people. All of their happiness made me sick. They giggled and hugged like little kids.

And then I realized that they are all little kids. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. They didn't have to grow up as fast as I did. They weren't forced to leave home and go on a fruitless mission. I envied their carelessness. I waited next to a smiling Iroh as they finished.

It was Sokka who addressed me first. "Zuko." He greeted me with a scowl on his face.

"Sokka." I acknowledged and held out my hand for him to shake. He stared at it dumbly for a minute, but then took it in a firm shake. He seemed to relax slightly after we shook, as if we came to some agreement that I wouldn't try to kill him in his sleep.

"Wow!" Aang yelled out of nowhere. I turned around to see him examining Katara's ripped clothes. "What happened?"

"Azula and Mai fought us. But don't worry, were fine." She assured them.

"Yeah." I added. "We should probably get going, she'll be coming soon." I looked at Katara meaningfully. "And she'll be mad too."

"Lets all go to the campsite then, shall we?" Iroh suggested.

"Katara wholeheartedly agreed. "Yeah, lets go. I've missed Momo and Appa…hey, where's Toph?"

Aang finally spoke up. "She's on guard duty."

"Good, that's settled then. Now lets get going." Iroh said.

Sokka ran ahead of us, most likely to tidy up his area before Katara sees it, and Katara skipped along after him. I was left alone with Iroh and Aang, but that soon changed when Iroh winked at me and then hurried away.

Aang and I stood awkwardly together, neither of us really able to look the other in the eye. After what seemed like eons, I looked at Aang, the awkwardness finally getting to me. He looked to be just as conflicted as I was, torn between fear and the desire to forgive me. His mouth opened and closed, he wanted to tell me something, but as he stood there fidgeting, he kept thinking better of it.

"Aang-" I began, he didn't really have to say anything. I knew how he felt about me.

"No, wait…" he cut me off. After a minute he began again. "I want to thank you."

"You don't have to, I didn't do anythi-"

"Yes, I do." He walked up to me. "Iroh told me what you did for Katara, and now you brought her back to me- I mean us-" His cheeks tinged with pink. "You could have left her, but you didn't, you could have used her to get to me, but you didn't. That gives me hope, and gives you my trust." He stuck out his hand.

I took his hand, shaking it firmly. "It really was nothing, I never could have just left her there."

He nodded. "Kanjou is out there somewhere, but we'll get him."

"Yes, we will." I said somberly.

He smiled. "Lets go before Sokka thinks something happened." He joked, but I could tell from the poorly hidden edge in his voice that he wasn't kidding.

We walked those last few minutes to the campsite, and when we reached it, I paused. Aang stopped with me and looked at me curiously. He smiled at me as if he understood me and patted me on the back in a comforting manner, but the effect held nothing close. The touch aggravated the pain that had been lying dormant in my burn, it now returned quickly and at full force. I let out a grunt of pain and surprise. I had completely forgotten about the burn, but now it seemed like it was back with a vengeance.

I grumbled silently at the oblivious boy's retreating back and then surveyed the campsite.

The first thing that I noticed was Ty Lee. She was bound to a tree on the far side of the camp, Toph standing next to her spinning some rocks near her head and watching (Actually feeling…) Ty Lee who was getting nervous at the closeness. She looked relatively unscathed; a small cut on the arm was all that adorned her. Toph didn't seem to be paying attention to her small protests at all. All she seemed to be interested in was picking at her teeth with her dirty fingernails. I remember Uncle saying to me that she was blind; I'll have to ask her sometime how she is able to fight so well.

Katara and Sokka were already bickering, not really surprising, but still pretty pathetic. Katara seemed to be arguing with Sokka about his inability to keep his clothes in one piece. Sokka most likely made the mistake of asking her to mend his clothes.

Aang was lounging lazily on Appa's tail. He seemed to be indifferent about everything around him, but I didn't miss how tense he was. It was like he was ready to break up a fight at any second. But I also didn't miss how his eyes didn't stray far from Katara's face and her body. My eye twitched slightly as I got the urge to slap him. He wouldn't have any way to know Katara's relationship with me, but it still made me angry.

I cleared my throat loudly. "I don't mean to be rude or anything…" Sokka snorted at me. "But we need to go now."

"Zuko's right." Aang added. "Lets pack up and go."

Everyone packed up with incredible speed, and I couldn't help but think that it was my fault. If I hadn't gave them so many surprise attacks, then they wouldn't have to go so quickly. I untied Ty Lee from the tree and pulled her pulled her to Appa's saddle. I wasn't really worried that she would escape; I knew she wasn't that aggressive on her own. I retied her bindings just as the rest of the group joined me on the saddle. The groups bags were piled outside of the saddle, but still strapped to Appa's tail somehow. I noticed that Iroh had about three fat bags of his own to add to the pile, and I smiled at him, they were probably all filled with tea or something .It was a little crowded on the saddle, but with Aang on Appa's head, we all managed to fit. Iroh even set up a tea pot.

I decided that it would actually be nice to have some tea, so I moved myself next to Iroh.

Iroh cleared his throat, and everyone snapped to attention. He pulled out a tray from his bags and started pouring the tea, but I stopped him. I'd rather do it for him. Maybe it was because I was happy to see him, but even though I passed the cups out and saw that there was two left, one for me and one for Ty Lee. I smiled; Iroh would never change, always considerate, even to prisoners.

"Hi Zuko! Its nice to see you again. Did you miss me?" She asked enthusiastically.

I took a deep breath and ignored the question, asking one of my own instead. "If I untie you, will you promise not to run away?"

She thought for a second. "Its not like I can just hop off of Appa, I'll die!" she laughed as she peaked over Appa's saddle and at the ground speeding by. "Anything for Mai's boyfriend!"

The talking that had been going on behind me suddenly stopped. I could feel everyone's shocked faces staring into my back.

"We broke up." I hissed through clenched teeth.

"Oh, what a shame. She really liked you too. Fine, I'll still be good, but only if you put in a good word for me to Sokka." She peeked over my shoulder and winked at him.

I shuddered in disgust. "Fine." I muttered and went to work on untying her. When I was done I handed her the cup.

"Thank you," she said happily, she acted like she was at home instead of a hostage.

When I returned to the group, uncle began speaking. "Why doesn't Sokka begin?" He turned to Sokka. "Tell them what happened after Katara left."

Sokka sat up straight and cleared his throat. "Ok, after Katara's dramatic little exit, we waited for a long time, about a half a day, but when you didn't come back we started to get worried. Toph and I went to look for you, but we couldn't find you, and when we came back you still hadn't returned, so we went to sleep hoping you'd be back by morning. But you didn't. We were just about to hop on Appa and search some more, but Azula came.

Katara chewed her bottom lip. "You guys were safe right? Do I need to heal anyone?"

"Calm down, sugarqueen, we're fine. We don't need you to heal every bruise." Toph taunted from her faithful spot on the other side of Iroh.

Sokka continued before Katara could retaliate. "Thankfully for our laziness, we never fully unpacked since the time we landed, so when they came, we wrote you the note and quickly left-"

"Was that before or after you hit yourself with your own boomerang?" Ty Lee said with a giggle from her position in the back of the saddle.

Toph laughed loudly. "I'm beginning to like that girl…"

"Anyways…" Sokka broke in loudly. "We went from town to town, but they were always close behind, but then we caught a brake. We were able to loose them thanks to my quick thinking,-" Toph snorted. "At the Saigon cliff." Sokka finished, glaring at Toph.

"That's when we caught up with Iroh." Sokka finished.

"We went to the town called Ming," Iroh gave me a sad look. "Left a message with a boy named Lee, and then went to Ghanzao."

"Now, what about you?" Sokka asked Katara eagerly.

Aang, who had been concentrating on steering the bison, angled himself towards us so he could hear.

"Ok, so where did Iroh leave off?" she asked the group.

Aang replied fast. "After you guys left the town."

"Lets see then…" she thought for a minute. "We decided that it would be best to join up with you guys, so we went to the campsite. You guys weren't there so Zuko tracked you guys! And now here we are." She finished lamely.

It was silent.

"That's it?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, after boomerang's travel log, yours is kind of lacking…"

"I kind of liked it." Aang offered.

I rolled my eyes at him, could he be any less obvious?

"Well, that is what happened…" she looked at me meaningfully, trying to get me to back her up.

I gave in. "Yep, that's _pretty much_ what happened." I looked at her, and she blushed at the thoughts of what we were leaving out.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Whatever, lets just drink our tea."

Iroh smiled and refilled everyone's cup while I got ready for a long ride.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**I know I'm posting it kinda early, but I have a babysitting gig in a bit (and trust me...I need to money) so its either now or I break my weekly update policy.**

**About the Sozins Comet spoilers...I couldn't avoid the spoilers (even though I tried), and I know I'm not the only one, so If you know what happens (particularly the Zutara vs. Kataang part) then you need to listen to TZO (The Zutarian Oasis) there is a link for it in my profile. And if you want to discuss it with me, then feel free to PM me.**

**On a completely un-avatar related note...PROM IS TOMORROW! Its gong to be hell getting ready, but it will so be worth it in the end!**


	16. Conflict

**This week can be summed up in one word...hectic.**

**And If I ever miss a Friday update,**** then I'm sorry. My dad has been momopolizing the internet for the last few weeks, I'm lucky if I get 30 minutes on the computer each day. I really will try, but if I don't...**

**Don't worry though, I will never make you wait too long, I hope it will never be more than a few days late.**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

The stars were twinkling above me merrily, not a care in the world. They watched over us from their place in the sky, murmuring to each other about what was going on in our world. They saw everything, knew everything, so they probably knew that I was currently aggravated and annoyed.

I watched from a distance as Aang shamelessly flirted with Katara. I wasn't sure if Katara was aware of his feelings for her, but either way, she didn't stop him. It wasn't right to lead him on like this. I saved her life, I brought her safely back, and this is the way he repaid me? By flirting with my girlfriend? I tried to remind myself that he didn't know, that he couldn't know, but it still made me want to hurt him.

He placed his hand on her shoulder, and my eye did an involuntary twitch.

"Aang!" I called automatically.

Aang jumped in surprise and looked around for the source of the voice. When his eyes settled on me, he ran over immediately. "Yes?"

"Uh…" _C'mon Zuko, how could you call him without a plan? Think of something, anything, as long as it keeps him here and not with Katara._ "How are you?"

His eyebrows rose. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"Uh…" _Think, think, think…_"Have you learned firebending yet?"

"Actually, You're uncle's been teaching me firebending since he got here."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, Sifu Iroh is a great teacher."

"Uh…" _Oh__,__ come on Zuko, this is pathetic, come up with something._ "How do you like it?"_ Oh yeah, that's brilliant._

Aang's almost constant smile faded. "At first I was reluctant to learn, when I first tried to I hurt someone that I love." He threw a glance over his shoulder at Katara, and I sure didn't miss it. "But Iroh talked to me about it and convinced me to learn. Its hard, but it will be worth it when I fight your dad."

"That's nice…"

"Yeah." He shifted on his feet, and I could tell he wanted to get back to Katara.

I couldn't let him. _Think__,__ Zuko…_ "Uh, do you know what's for dinner?" _That was bloody freaking brilliant__,__ Zuko, you deserve applause._

"I'll go and ask Katara!" he smiled and skipped back to Katara's side.

"Backfired." I mumbled to myself.

Aang tapped Katara on her shoulder and started talking to her again, and I doubted that he was asking her about dinner. Every passing second made me want to hit him in the face; he fawned over her, and he treated her like his idol.

"What's got you so upset?" Toph sat down next to me, and I jumped in surprise. "C'mon, Sparky, you can tell me…I won't say anything." She smiled at me, meaning to look mischievous, but I could see that she was actually half interested. I could only imagine what my heartbeat was like as I watched them.

"He's always like that!" Sokka yelled with a laugh from where he was sitting on a stump sharpening a strange black sword and guarding a bored looking Ty Lee.

"What do you mean?" she asked Sokka with a glint in her eyes, preferring to get her information from him apparently.

Sokka cracked his knuckles and sat down, smiling at the attention. "Every time I see him, he's all grumpy and mean. I have never seen him smile in all of the time I've known him…"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"See?" He asked, gesturing toward me with his arms.

"Uh…actually, I don't…" she laughed, as his jaw went slack. Her laugh held a bit of an edge to it that made me think that she didn't think it was as funny as she let on.

"You're hilarious…" I said in a sarcastic monotone.

"Actually," Ty Lee piped in. "When Zuko was back in the Firenation, he seemed very happy!"

"HA! The next thing you're going to say is that he actually smiled!" Sokka laughed.

"He always smiled when he was with Mai." She informed him.

He glared at her in annoyance. "Like I said, Zuko is just a sad, sad person…probably had to do with his parents." Sokka put his hand on his chin and thought for a second as I became increasingly agitated. "His father must have- wait; his father was never really there, so the bad parenting must have been done by his mother-"

My fist was at his stomach in a second; it connected perfectly and sent him to the ground. I saw the gratifying shock on his face as he hit the ground and lay there stunned for a second. Before he could move, I straddled him and hit him again in the face. A large red mark, which would turn into a bruise soon, appeared on his face. He struggled beneath me in a futile attempt to get me off of him, and his arms lashed out wildly at me face, but I didn't get off of him.

I heard yells as the group rushed over to us. The back of my mind registered that they were probably telling me to stop, but I could hear nothing through the pulsing of my blood in my ears.

The ground suddenly shook as Toph put up a wall around us, stopping the group from intervening with our fight.

"Toph!" they yelled in unison.

"What are you doing Toph?" Aang yelled. "Break them up!"

She just shook her head. "This is between them now."

Sokka punched me on the cheek, and I reeled back, falling off Sokka. He rolled onto me, trying to hold me down, but I used his weight against him and as he flipped up, I kneed him in the stomach and as he paused, I rolled back over so that I was back on top.

This time I held his arms down as I straddled his hips.

He glared at me and struggled feebly.

I felt my old, blank mask slip out of hiding and onto my face. I leaned down and drew closer to him, he flinched back, but I ignored him.

My lips neared his ear, and I whispered a threat. "You will never say anything about my mother again, or else we will find our just how good with a sword you are."

"The only reason I was nice to you was because Aang is here, but if he is ever gone…" Sokka threatened.

I smirked at him. Good. I applied some extra pressure on his chest and shoved off of him.

He scrambled up and looked at me, I was only a few feet away from him, and it was like I was giving him another chance to fight if he wanted to. His face was impassive, but his eyes were burning. We stood there, just staring at each other.

Toph lowered the wall of earth and the group came surging in.

"What is wrong with you two?" Katara yelled, examining Sokka's swollen cheek. He jerked away from her touch.

"Why were you guys fighting?" Aang asked. "And why didn't you stop them Toph?" he turned towards her.

She shook her head. "I'm going to stay out of this. Talk to them." She waved her arm dismissively and walked into her earth tent.

I stared after her, ignoring the questions directed towards me. When I turned to face Sokka, I saw that he wasn't speaking either.

"Hello? Can someone answer me? What happened?" Katara looked at me with a glare. "What did you do?"

My eyes narrowed into slits. What did _I _do? I directed my anger at her and completely ignored Sokka. "Stay out of this Katara."

She opened her mouth in a silent scream of anger. "No, I won't. How could you just punch my brother and then act like this doesn't involve me?"

"Because it doesn't!" I yelled at her.

"He's my brother! It involves me!" She insisted with venom in her voice.

I growled in frustration. "I can't take this!"

I looked at Sokka again before and flexed my sore fist before I left. My feet led me past a silent and staring Aang, and then into the forest we had camped in. I didn't turn around once to look at Katara. I turned along a small, thin, beaten path in the dirt and walked blindly, not really caring where I ended up.

I stopped abruptly under a tree and just sat down getting into a meditating position.

I heard Katara coming before she got here. She stomped my way loudly, stepping on twigs, kicking things, and cursing. In short, I knew she was mad.

"Why did you punch my brother?" Katara asked furiously after she finally reached me.

I relaxed my face and continued meditating, ignoring her.

"Answer me, damnit!" she yelled. "Sokka has been nothing but nice to you this entire time! He didn't do anything!"

My calm demeanor broke. "You think your brother is so good, you think he's so innocent. Do you really think that I would punch your brother unprovoked?" I walked over to her and stood in front of her. It hurt me to find out that she thought I would do something like that. It felt like she didn't trust me. And the fact that I liked her so much made it hurt even more.

Katara's mouth opened to answer my question, but she closed it again. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

My heart fell. "You think I would?"

She took a deep breath. "I don't know Zuko…"

"So that's how it's going to be? I asked her, arms folded across my chest.

Her arms fell to her sides. "Zuko, just tell me what happened."

"Why should I tell you, you probably won't believe me anyway…" I said childishly. Immature, I know, but I was tired and angry.

"Tell me!" she yelled, hands balling into fists.

My stance got defensive. "No."

"Zuko…" she threatened.

I turned towards the dark, starry, sky. The full moon shone down on me as I spoke. "I don't want to."

Her shoulders hunched forward and she captured me in a glare.

I glared back at her, and I could tell that she was getting madder by the second.

It suddenly started getting very warm. I found that kind of weird since it was actually a pretty nice night, not too hot, but still kind of cool. It could have just been my temper; sometimes my temper can make me loose control of my firebending. I tried to calm down, but it just got hotter. My glare wavered as I started to pull at the top of my shirt to get a little cool air to my skin.

Then my heart heat started beating a bit faster. My glare fell away and was replaced a confused one. What the heck? My heart beat became erratic, going fast then suddenly slowing own and back to normal. I started getting a headache, it was small at first, but then it escalated into one that had my head pounding. I could hear my pulse as it went through my veins, something was wrong. I held out my hand and I saw it shaking badly, my whole body was shaking. I could feel my muscles clenching and unclenching involuntarily.

My breath caught in my throat, and as I drew in a breath, I had to gasp. Something was _seriously_ wrong with me.

I looked up at Katara and saw that she was still glaring at me, a slightly crazed look was on her face and that frightened me more than anything. I tried to call out to her, but my voice failed me.

I felt something warm and wet trickle down my back, and a moment later, the pain caught up with me. My burn was alight with fresh pain. I arched my back and drew in a gasp.

My eyes rolled back and my vision faded into blackness. The last thing I saw before I hit the ground was Katara's glaring face.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**I know there was something that I wanted to write here, but I really cant remember...**

**Oh, and yes. Katara was doing a tad bit of blood bending.**

**p.s.- Does anyone read Naruto on the internet? Well, when I read chapter 400...Wow...Just wow. I used to hate Sasuke, but now I feel sorry for him. I forgive him for everything. Poor Sasuke, that sad misguided soul... OMGZ! ITACHI!! -starts crying inconsolably-**


	17. Dreams

**Hmmm...I dont really have anything to say right now...(WOW! Shock, huh?)...Maybe I'll have something afterwards to say...**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I knew I was dreaming. I mean, I had to be. I remembered that I had been fighting with Katara and then I blacked out. I must have gotten sick or something… Yeah…that must have been it. Or maybe my burn got infected, and it made me pass out. But that didn't really make sense; I think I would have known if my burn got infected… I knew that I hadn't taken very good care of it, but I still think I would have known if it had gotten this bad. I decided that I'd have to ask Katara about this after I wake up; she'd know more about this kind of thing.

Another clue that gave away the whole dream thing away was the fact that I knew I was floating, maybe even flying. I was staring up at a clear crystal blue sky, only one or two clouds floated leisurely in the distance. I felt no ground beneath me, nothing that could be supporting me. It was quite relaxing actually. The soft wind gently ruffled my hair, and the sun warmed my skin. I could stay like this for a long time, being sick wasn't as bad when you could spend your time like this.

"Zuko!" a voice called from somewhere below me. I was a little surprised to hear someone calling my name; I was thinking I was dreaming… Did this mean that I wasn't? It was also a little strange to see that I recognized the voice. It was my father's, so I had to be dreaming.

I craned my neck toward the voice and flipped over. Sure enough, my father was directly below me, but he wasn't talking to me, he was calling out to a little boy that was crawling around my mother's garden. It only took me a second to see who it was. It was me, and I looked to be about two years old.

"Zuko?" he called again with a laugh.

My younger self shrieked in laughter and crawled even faster.

Ozai smiled at my two year old self and took off after me.

'Little Me' immediately gave up his/my? (This whole identity crisis thing is kind of confusing…) futile retreat and rolled over onto my back, laughing the whole time.

My father came upon 'Little Me's' surrendered self and knelt down next to my small body. "That's it?" he laughed. "The Fire Nation never surrenders!" He yelled his battle cry with a laugh.

He started tickling my smaller form mercilessly. My two year old self laughed until tears streamed down his face.

I smiled at the memory of the time when father actually had fun with me, when he actually liked me. Little Me started to retaliate and tickle him back; he rolled us over so that I was sitting on his stomach. I tried to tickle him back with my short stubby little fingers, and he faked a laugh for my benefit.

"My lord!" I saw a servant fun from the palace and toward my father. The expression on his face read fright and anticipation.

My father and I froze immediately, and in a second my father was standing in full Fire Lord mode. "What is it?"

"Lord Ozai, Lady Ursa went into labor!" he said with an out of breath smile.

My father stared at the servant for a second and then bolted for the palace.

The two year old me stared after him in complete confusion, alone and scared.

I decided to try and get closer to the younger version of myself, and as soon as that thought entered my head I started floating towards him/me (This is so weird…).

My feet met the soft grass gently, and I looked down at my smaller self. He was short and kind of chubby, with fat little cheeks. Even I had to admit that I was once a cute kid.

The servant walked up next to me and grabbed his hand. "Come on prince Zuko, why don't we go and play with your toys?"

I saw the younger me nod quietly and come my way, but before I could move, the pair walked right through me, and I seemed to be swallowed up by darkness.

When I appeared again, I was in a magnificent room.

The room was very large with high ceilings and expensive looking marble floors. As I looked around, I saw that the walls were painted a dark burgundy color, and on two of the four walls there was a large fire nation emblem painted in black. As I drew closer, I could see that it wasn't just a solid black symbol, it was a design painted so close together, that it seemed to be solid. The detail that had gone into making the emblem was amazing, I felt bad that I knew that no one would even glance twice at these.

The third wall in the room held the door. It was huge and intimidating; it seemed to be staring at you. The door was a painted metal that looked to be about two feet thick and it had large handles that looked like they could be bigger than me. Large portraits hung on both sides of the door, portraits of ancestors long past away.

This whole time something was gnawing at the back of my mind, this all seemed eerily familiar. I knew this place. This was the throne room.

I turned to the last wall, and sure enough, my grandfather was sitting atop his throne. He looked the same as I remembered him to be. His old wrinkled face look down at all with a scowl, and his long, almost white, hair was in the traditional topknot.

"Why do you disturb me?" He asked the man bowing down to him.

I moved closer to him and recognized him as Ozai.

"My lord, I come bearing news. My wife, lady Ursa, has given birth to a child." Ozai said to the ground, still bowing.

"Oh? Tell me now; is it a male or female?" He practically spat the last word.

My father flinched. "A female."

I heard a small growl come from Azulon.

"She will be named after the greatest Fire Lord our Nation has ever known," Ozai added quickly. "The name she is given is Azula, named after my lord Azulon."

Lord Azulon was quiet for a moment. "Bring her to me." He finally commanded.

Ozai seemed to scurry out of the room, he stopped once only to wait for the servants to open the massive doors, and then disappear behind them.

I looked back at Azulon. He seemed to be weaker than I remembered him. He had always seemed so menacing and cold, but now I saw that he was decaying before our eyes, weak and aging.

He made a short motion with his left hand and Li and Lo came into the room. They flanked his side and waited for Ozai to return.

It only took about a minute for Ozai to come hurrying into the room. He carried a small bundle in his arms that shifted restlessly in its prison of blankets. Ozai returned to his spot and got on his knees, raising the baby toward Azulon in submission.

He motioned for Li and Lo to step forward and take the child. They did so and took baby Azula to Azulon. They presented the child to him and his scrutiny.

"Tell me…" He addressed Lo and Li.

She nodded to him and cradled the baby in her arms. In one swift movement, she placed her hand on the baby's forehead and closed her eyes tightly. "This child is blessed."

Li stepped up, placed her hand on the child's forehead, and continued what Lo started. "She will be gifted, a prodigy, superior to most at firebending."

I glanced at my father and Azulon to gauge their expressions; it surprised me to see that both were alike.

My father's face was cold, calculating, and had a hint of a smile. Pride was written on his face, pride with what she could be, pride for what he could use her for. I realized with a shock that this was the moment my father chose Azula over me. I was barely efficient at firebending, and Li and Lo basically told him that Azula would be a child prodigy. I knew that at one time my father loved me, but now…this shed new light on the relationship I had with my father.

But wait. Wasn't this all just a dream? I could just be inventing this all in my head… But all of this seemed too familiar to be a dream. It was like the accident jarred these memories from the depth of my memory and thrust them before me.

Before I could spare this matter another thought, the scene before me shifted and blurred into another.

Images and scenes seemed to flash around me, but I couldn't make out many of them, and none stayed longer than five seconds. But still, a scene of me and my father caught my eye. My father was walking quickly down the palace hall, hand in hand with a five year old Azula. I saw a younger version of myself running after them, calling out for them to wait, trying to get his attention, but he walked on, ignoring me completely.

The image was gone in a matter of seconds, but the memory will always be burnt into my mind.

Another unforgettable image was one of me sitting just behind my bedroom door crying. I didn't know what I was crying about, but I knew that I was sad, frustrated, and alone. But my mother suddenly entered the room, and when her eyes found me she was immediately by my side with a warm hug and whispers of love.

The images continued to swirl around me until one suddenly froze in its place and covered all others.

It was me… but it also wasn't me. It was an image of what I used to me. My own eyes glared out at me, lines seemed to be permanently etched into my forehead as I stared through my golden eyes. The angry red scar stood out on my face, and the glare seemed to make it even more noticeable.

Looking at my old self depressed me; it made me sad to see the way I was, what I used to be. I would love to go back and try to talk some sense into myself, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble, but I knew that it wasn't an option. I also knew that I probably wouldn't have changed. I didn't know back then what I knew now. I wouldn't have listened to myself anyway.

The vision of me faded once again into black.

I sighed and continued floating in the darkness, wallowing in my own depression, for what seemed like hours. I couldn't get over the knowledge that my father actually once cared for me, but that love was soon gone once he learned of Azula's future power.

Suddenly, I felt this weird tingling sensation that started in my chest and spread through my whole body. The feeling grew and grew with intensity until I gasped with pain.

My eyes flew open, and I was staring into the silhouette of the Avatar.

I immediately checked the burn on my back, but as I tried to sit up and reach behind, my strength failed me, and I fell with an audible 'oomph' on the ground. Judging from the absence of pain as I landed on my back, my burn had been healed. But my little act had aroused the attention of Aang, who turned towards me.

"Zuko!" He yelled with delight. "You're awake!

I groaned as his voice pierced through my skull like an arrow. "What happened?" I asked, my voice rough with sleep.

Aang's happy face changed and he answered with a faraway look on his face. "We don't know for sure, but we do know it has something to do with Katara."

"Why?" I asked confusedly.

He looked at me strangely. "That's something you'll have to ask Katara about, but I don't think she knows much about it herself."

I nodded in understanding, and then looked around. It was surprisingly to see that everyone was gone from the camp except for Appa and Momo.

"Where is everyone?" I asked Aang and used me elbows to prop myself up.

"All of them went to get supplies and medicine because were planning on leaving soon… I'm here because it's too dangerous for people to see me; they also want me to take care of you." He still spoke with a distracted face.

"Zuko?" He looked at me, face now filled with determination. "Is there anything going on between you and Katara?"

I blanched. "What?- I mean, what makes you think that?"

He was still looking at me strangely. "Well…" he hesitated. "When you guys first came to us- listen… We all thought you two would be ripping each others heads off, but you weren't, you guys seemed to be kind of close. And then…" he stopped.

"What?" I prompted.

"Well, after you left and Katara went after you…" He seemed to be trying to find the right way to say what was on his mind. "We went to find you guys and about twenty minutes after you both left, you see…Toph thought we should give you two some time, we found you unconscious with Katara crying over your body. She was practically inconsolable."

I almost smiled when I learned that Katara cared about me so much, but I knew that if I smiled, Aang might get the wrong idea, so I restrained myself.

"And when you two are together…both of you hardly ever have your eyes off of each other."

"Is that it?" I asked jokingly, trying to get him to doubt himself.

"Well…" he looked away. "Just tell me, is there anything between you two?"

"Besides friendship?" I stalled.

"Yes."

I took a deep breath.

I never wanted to make our relationship, however dysfunctional, a secret from everyone. I knew it could potentially cause problems and ruin any relationships that I had forged between the group and myself. I was never really good at lying either, so my answer would probably not convince him. But as I looked into his eyes, I saw that the only answer he wanted to hear was a no. He would accept that answer without a second thought because all he wants is his chance with her, and my lie, in his eyes, would give him a chance at what he wants. He would never be able to have her, though, and I felt sorry for him because of it.

I exhaled and gave him what he wanted. "No, there is nothing going on between us."

Just as I said it, all doubt vanished from Aang's face, and he smiled. "Thank you for being honest, Zuko."

Toph's voice broke in. "Hey, Iroh, Sparky's awake!" The group walked back into the campsite just as she finished her announcement.

Although Iroh was clearly the one she addressed, the first one to reach my side was Katara. She wrapped her arms around me tightly, and since I was too weak to return the hug, I could only rest my head on her shoulder.

"Oh Zuko, are you alright?" she paused, but before I could answer she continued. "I'm so sorry, this is my entire fault!"

"How is all of this your fault? I should have taken better care of my wound; it's not your fault I got an infection!" I reassured her.

She looked at me for a moment and then switched her gaze to Aang. The look they shared seemed to hold a conversation, but what every raised eyebrow and slight narrowing of the eye meant, I didn't know. Aang suddenly nodded his head and left Katara and I alone.

"Zuko…" She began uneasily. "This wasn't because of your back…-" She paused and glared at me. "Why didn't you tell me about your back? I would have healed it for you sooner!"

"I'm sorry," I began quickly. "I didn't want-"

"No, Zuko, you listen…" She commanded. "When I saw you there lying in a puddle of your blood…" She shivered.

"Katara…I really am sorry, I never meant to scare you or anything; I just didn't want you to have to worry about me." I told her.

"You lost so much blood…" She shuddered again. "You were unconscious for three days!" She yelled. "Do you know how worried I was about you?!"

"I'm sorry." I apologized again, and I truly meant it.

She stared into my eyes for a long time, and another thought abruptly shot into my head. "Wait… You said all of this wasn't because of an infection…"

She jumped as if startled. "Oh yeah..." she took one of my hands in hers and squeezed. "I think I was the one who did all of this." She confessed with downcast eyes.

"What?" I asked. "Now I'm confused… How is any of this possibly your fault?"

"Well…" she adjusted herself to get more comfortable. "When we were fighting…I-" she closed her eyes tightly. "I think I did something to you." She opened her eyes again but stared down at our hands instead. "I was just so angry, and the moon was full, and I just…I could feel you…I could feel everything about you, your heart beat, the blood going through your veins, I could control you, everything about you." She was breathless by the end of the speech; tears were freely rolling down her cheeks. Her hands absently fidgeted around the one of mine she held.

I just sat there, frozen in place, thoughts running wild. Was it possible that she had so much power over me? I knew that Katara was an excellent bender, as powerful (maybe even more so) as Azula. But could she do something like this? She could control my heart beat, my temperature, my ability to speak, could she control my entire body? Could I be like her puppet? The thought frightened me greatly.

"I…I-" I didn't know what to say. "Are you positive?" I finally asked.

She finally looked at me. "Yes." She waited for a reaction, but I gave her none. "I'm really sorry Zuko; I didn't know that it was possible to do such things! It will never, ever, happen again, I swear t you."

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Its ok, Katara, I actually learned a lot about myself while I was unconscious. I'm fine now."

"What do you mean you learned a lot?" she asked quizzically.

"Never mind that, we have bigger issues." I changed the subject, not yet willing to reveal what happened after I lost consciousness.

"Like what?" She asked me with raised eyebrows.

I sighed. "Aang just asked if there was anything going on between us…"

"He what?!"

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**Nope...still dont have anything to say besides I hope you liked it.**

**review please!**


	18. Ty Lee

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"What?!" Katara yelled loudly.

"Yeah." I ground my teeth and gestured for her to keep quiet.

"What did he say?" Katara looked absolutely horrified.

"He said something about our unexpected friendship and how you reacted when we fought that one time." I wiggled my eyes at her. "And something about you not being able to keep your eyes off of me."

She glared at me. "Not the right time for this." She took a deep breath. "How could I have made it so obvious?"

"He's smarter than I thought; I mean we've barely spoken to each other since we got here…" I sighed.

"We can try not looking at each other anymore." She proposed.

I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "Yeah, that's easy." I glanced up to make sure no one was looking and poked her in the ribs.

She grunted and smiled at me. "Well then, Mister Smarty Pants, what do you suggest?"

I got an idea. "Fight."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon… It's what you're good at. We just need to give them what they want, and that is arguing."

"So all we need to do is argue?"

"Yeah." I replied.

"Hm…" She looked thoughtful. "That should be easy."

"When should we start?

She looked over at Aang and Sokka who were now looking at us suspiciously. Her face darkened. "Now."

I raised my eyebrows. "About what?"

She smirked. "Are you kidding me?!" she yelled loudly, standing abruptly with crossed arms.

My eyebrows retracted back into place. She was leaving the subject of our argument up to me, and I had no clue what to make it about. Well think, Zuko… What could we fight about? They think we are over here talking about our fight, so I'll let them continue thinking that. "If you think that I'm just going to sit here and forgive you, then you're wrong!"

"Oh! So I try to make things right, and suddenly I'm the bad guy?"

"Exactly!! You try to make everything right, but you fail so miserably, it's practically like you ARE the bad guy!!"

"Of all the ungrateful-. You know what? Next time you faint, you can just stay like that!!"

I smiled at her. This could get fun.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

For the next couple days, Katara and I argued about the smallest things. Even Aang didn't doubt our relationship anymore after that. One such argument…

"Why do we need to leave now?" Katara complained to me.

"You know we can't stay in one place for too long!"

"But we just got here?" she yelled.

"Yeah, a few days ago!" I yelled back.

"C'mon, guys!" Aang interrupted. "You guys have been fighting for days!"

"Give it a rest already!" Sokka added.

We both simultaneously turned away from each other, crossing our arms, faces twisted into identical scowls.

Aang sighed. "Zuko is right… We need to leave as soon as possible."

I smiled. Even though this argument wasn't even real, he sided with me anyway. "Where are we going to go?"

"Uhhh…" Aang thought to himself quietly.

"I know of a town that we could go to for a while, it is a little ways away, but we should get to it by tomorrow morning." Iroh pulled a map out of his sleeve and unrolled the map, gesturing for Aang to join him.

Aang joined him, and they began mapping out the quickest way to get there, and inevitably, Sokka soon joined them to put in his useless help.

Ten minutes of useless small talk later, and things were finally decided. We were going to pack up and leave as soon as possible, we even decided that we would change towns at three or four day intervals. Sokka took command, or so he thought, and flocked us into a group to dish out cleaning assignments. I got stuck with the one job no one wanted, packing up the cooking supplies. And of course, since everyone in this group (excluding Iroh) can't concentrate for longer than five minutes, I was the first one done and was practically forced to help everyone else do their chores.

It took us about an hour to do our little thirty minute jobs, and then it took even longer to round everyone up again so we could actually leave.

"Hey! Ty Lee!" Sokka called to where she was crouched down next to a tree. "Hurry up. I know we untied you and everything, but you still need to be quick."

"Ok!" she stood up and dusted off her hands. "Coming!"

Sokka shook his head and continued loading Appa and grumbling to himself.

Something felt wrong, but I couldn't place my finger on it. It was just a feeling, intuition, but it gnawed at my brain relentlessly. I tried to ignore it, I really did, all I wanted to do is pack up and leave, but the feeling wouldn't leave me. I decided to finally give in and go and check around for something. I usually didn't get these kinds of feelings for no reason at all, so it could be something important.

I rolled my shoulders and walked around the perimeter of the camp while everyone continued bustling around, picking up the last of our junk. Actually, it was everyone else's junk, seeing as I came here with nothing, and unlike Katara, I didn't have a bag of fresh clothes awaiting my return.

As I walked around, nothing really sparked my interest. That is until I came to the area that Ty Lee was crouched down at earlier. What I found, at first, just looked to be a pile of dirt, and I, being a rather careful person, decided to just level it out so there is absolutely no evidence that we were ever there. As I got closer to the pile of dirt and readied myself it demolish it, I noticed that it wasn't a pile of dirt at all; well, actually it was, but it was shaped into a map.

So many things ran through my head at that point that it would take years to sort through them all.

The only clear thought in my head was to call Iroh, which I immediately did.

He must have heard the urgent tone in my voice because he came over quickly and looked worried. "What is it?" he asked quickly.

I gestured to the map. "It's a map to the town were going to."

Iroh's face went grim. "Bring Aang." He ordered.

I looked around and saw Aang deep in conversation with Toph. With no care as to what they were talking about, I grabbed Aang and pulled him over to Iroh.

"What is it? What happened?" Aang questioned.

"Just come." I commanded and brought him to Iroh.

It only took seconds for Aang to catch on to everything.

After that, everything happened quickly.

The next thing I knew, Sokka was summoned and once he heard what happened the interrogation began.

"This whole time you were leading them to us?" Sokka yelled angrily.

She looked away from Sokka.

"How could you? We treated you so well!" He paced in front of her.

She was silent; her usually smiling face was now in a mask of apathy.

"Why did you do it?" Aang asked with a hurt look on his face.

"We trusted you! We were nice to you; we even let you help us around camp…Why?" I asked her. I wasn't sad, I wasn't angry, I was just tired. "How could you just lead Azula to us? You know what she'll do, she will try and kill him, and she's done it before. We need the Avatar, the world needs him."

She looked up at me, tears forming in her eyes. "You don't understand."

"We don't understand?!" Toph asked angrily. "You betrayed us, how is that hard to understand?"

"It was an order." Her voice was choked with emotion.

"That doesn't make me sympathetic towards you at all." Sokka told her in a cold monotone.

"I don't expect your sympathy; I just want you to understand that-"

"Understand what? That after all of this, you just –just…" Sokka couldn't finish; he was absolutely furious.

"Now, calm down, everyone." Iroh cut in, trying to be the reasonable voice in the matter. "If she was leading them here the whole time, then I suggest we leave soon."

"What do we do with Ty Lee then?" Katara asked.

"I suggest we just tie her up and leave her…" Sokka put in his two cents.

"We can't just leave her!" Aang yelled.

"And why not?" Sokka asked, crossing his arms as he waited for Aang's reply.

"Sokka's got a point…" Toph and Iroh said at the same time. They both looked at each other and smiled; it's kind of freaky how alike they were getting. Every day they spend together brings them closer and closer to each other. It made me a little bit jealous.

"Aang, we can no longer trust her. We have to leave her here." Sokka said firmly.

"But she'll be all alone!" Aang argued feebly.

"I bet her friends aren't too far behind." I spat vehemently. "She will have company soon enough."

"But-" Aang started but was cut off by Katara.

"No, Aang. Sokka and Zuko are right… She can't come with us; we need to leave her here." Katara told him gently.

I sighed; the deal was as good as done. There was no way that Aang would ever go against Katara. Her word was practically law to him. She was everything to him.

Aang sighed, defeated. "Ok…let's go…"

Katara put her hand on is shoulder. "You did the right thing Aang… Let's go."

He looked one last time at Ty Lee, whose face was hidden behind her hair, and sighed, face resigned. He didn't too pleased about it, but wouldn't argue with our decision.

"Yeah…" he turned away from her. "Let's get going."

Ty Lee could have run from us; she could have attacked us and kept us here until Azula came, but she didn't. She sank to her knees in sadness – regret? I couldn't tell… - and didn't glance up once, not even as we flew away on Appa.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**I know what you're thinking..."Ariel! This is Saturday! Why is it a day late??" Well...I can answer this in two words...Food Poisoning...**

**I never want to eat Chinese food again.  
**

**So sorry if it seems a little short, but its because I was sick like all week. (I'm better now though.)**

**I'll make up for the shortness in the next chapter...I cant wait to start writing it...I'll just say that it will be worth it...****BUAHAhahahah! **


	19. Aang

**Hmm...how far can I push the T rating?? Lets find out...**

**Oh, heres a warning for you...This chapter isn't beta-ed due to some unexpected technical difficulties...(actually, I emailed the Chapter to my Beta, but she didn't send it back yet...lol, but I still love her, I'll just yell at her when I see her at school on Monday...)  
**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"Are you saying I can't cook

"Are you saying I can't cook?" She glared at me.

"No, I'm just saying you cook the same thing everyday!" I glared back.

"Well…If Mr. Manly Hunter Man would catch something every once in a while, we wouldn't have to eat rice everyday!" she yelled with a wink as our argument gathered the attention of the rest of the group.

Aang stepped forward uncertainly, but everyone else hung back wisely.

"Well, 'Mr. Manly Hunter Man' told you thousands of times that there isn't much game in the forest." I stepped towards her threateningly. "We need to leave again if you want meat to cook, but no, Miss. Rice Is All I Ever Cook wants to stay until we _have _to leave. When is that going to be? After Azula comes?"

"What? Do you have a problem with me, Zuko?" she spat through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Katara, as a matter of fact I do!"

"Um… Guys?" Aang tried to get our attention from the sidelines.

"Its ok, Twinkletoes, they've been at it ever since Zuko woke up a few weeks ago" Toph sat down cross-legged on the dirt. "Let them get it all out of their systems."

"I don't know, Aang… They would hurt each other. All of this arguing can't be good for them." Sokka added. Katara's brother had actually been a lot nicer to me the last few days. Maybe he felt it was his fault that Katara hurt me, since he was actually the one who started it (even tough I threw the first punch). If he hadn't been egging me on, Katara wouldn't have hurt me, and she wouldn't have been depressed about it. Maybe he felt that Katara was happier when Sokka and I didn't fight, but I bet he was now getting mixed messages from all of our arguments. I just hope he doesn't go back to fighting with me.

"Stay out of this, Sokka!" Katara snapped.

Sokka opened his mouth to reply, but Iroh cut him off with a knowing smile. "You should listen to the lady, Sokka; its safer for us to let her take her anger out on him now than have her bottle it all up inside her." Iroh winked at me.

My stomach immediately dropped. Could he know? How could he know? We've been doing nothing but fighting for a week now. Or maybe we were making it too obvious; maybe he could sense our feelings for each other. Or, I realized with a start, he could have remembered how we used to be (back when Katara was staying with us at our tea shop) and then compared it to know. We hated each other, but even then we didn't fight as much as we do now. My mind raced. Iroh is a very smart person; he could have seen all of this. He might have even noticed every quick glance and lingering touch.

My side of the argument lost its luster. "I- um…" I gave up on trying thinking of something to say and settled in igniting my fists instead.

"Oh, so you want to fight?" she asked angrily, not noticing my pause. "Alright…let's go."

"I-I'd feel too guilty doing it here… It's a sunny day, and you have hardly any water on you…" I stuttered out. "Meet me at the tree in 5 minutes." My heart beat pounded quickly as I stalked out of the campsite and into the forest, stalking past a worried looking Aang. I didn't look back once as I left Katara to make sure we wouldn't be followed.

My legs carried me automatically to the spot, which is a good thing because my head was swimming. It seemed that in no time I was there, our secret spot. Each time we fought, each fabricated argument, we always ended up here, this was the only place we could find solace, privacy, no one but us knew about it and that's what gave it its magic. It was a willow tree, its branches hung to the ground, encasing us in privacy.

I pushed the long thin branches of the tree aside and stepped into our spot. It was beautiful. The sunlight streamed through small gaps that the leaves didn't cover. I looked up and my sight was assaulted by a mass of intricately woven branches and leaves, sunlight flowing through the leaves and washing me in a green tint of light. I smiled and closed my eyes, inhaling the scent of wildflowers that grew on the ground around me. The steady babble of the small stream, that traveled under the tree's umbrella of leaves, gave off a relaxing noise.

"So Mr. Manly Hunter Man… You've been a bad boy…" A taunting voice said from behind me.

I smirked and turned around; my eyes fell upon the silhouette of Katara. Her hands held the thin branches apart; the sunlight lit her form from the outside. The sun bounced off of her mocha brown hair, making it shine beautifully. I could see the curve of her hips, the thin line of her body was almost sinful as she posed at the entrance to our encased willow tree. A small smile was on her face, and an eyebrow was raised at me.

"Get over here." I commanded roughly, trying to hide my smile in my voice.

Her smile widened and she sauntered over to me, hugging me tightly around the waist. "We need to think of some new argument ideas, we fought about my cooking last week."

I used my elbows to knock her arms off of me and then put my own arms around her, squeezing her tight and picking her up. I walked over to a blanket we had put here long ago and collapsed on my back, bringing her down with me. She shrieked as she landed on my chest with a laugh.

Katara propped her self up with her hands, each on one side of my head, and smiled down at me. "I'm glad we do this."

I paused, still a little uncomfortable with expressing my feelings. "Yeah, me too."

She smiled and leaned toward me, giving me a tender peck on the lips.

My heart did one of those annoying flips, and a smile made its way to my lips. She seemed to like the reaction this got, because she did it again. This time as her lips touched mine, I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her body against mine, and deepened the kiss.

I rolled over, pulling her under me, and she squeaked with surprise. "Zuko!" She blushed as I settled on top of her, reversing our positions.

My body barely touched hers as I placed feather light kisses along her jaw, face, and neck, never touching her lips. "Zuko, stop that!" she tried to yell through her giggles.

I paused in my attack, saw the slightly disappointed look on her face, and continued worshipping her with my lips. My lips traveled down her jaw, to her chin, down her neck, and then stopped at the dip at the base of her throat.

Finally, I brought my lips to hers. She responded with enthusiasm. Our lips danced together in unison, our tongue tango left my head spinning.

When we pulled apart, we were both gasping for air and our heads were spinning.

I suddenly started laughing out of happiness, it just suddenly burst from my throat and I couldn't stop it. Katara looked at me strangely, but she soon caught my contagious laughter and started herself. When I finally rolled off of her, my stomach muscles were tired from laughing. I placed my hands under my head and relaxed, I closed my eyes and let the sun absorb into my skin.

"I wish we didn't have to hide us…" Katara sighed.

I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Yeah, me too…" I propped myself up on my elbow. "Katara…"

She screamed to guess what I was about to ask. "No, we can't… Aang would never-"

"So?" I interrupted.

"What do you mean, 'So?' If Aang found out…" She looked at my expression. "Oh yes, I know he likes me, and that's why we need to keep it from him, it will distract him from his training."

"And you think it's better to keep it from him until he defeats my father? That's good, so after her kills a person he'll have to learn that the woman he loves will never love him back and is with his ex-enemy!" I closed my eyes with a frustrated sigh. "Oh, yeah, brilliant."

I felt a pressure on my chest, when I opened my eyes and found Katara resting her head on my chest. "Zuko, I hope you don't think this is how I want it to happen."

"It's just…" I turned my face away in embarrassment. "Sometimes it feels like you're ashamed of me."

The pressure from my chest was gone and Katara sat up quickly. The look on her face was unreadable. "No, Zuko, I'm not embarrassed at all! Why would I be embarrassed? You are the nicest, sweetest, and most determined guy I know! You were able to overcome so much in your life, and I really respect that. I like you Zuko, I really, really, like you…" She cupped my cheek with her palm.

My heart beat quickened. "Katara… Is this a confession?"

"No! No, no, no…Well…maybe…" Her eyes met mine. "Yes." She said breathlessly as if she was barely coming to this realization. "I think I might _love_ you…"

My mouth parted in surprise. "Really?"

Her forehead scrunched. "Yeah. I do… I love you, Zuko."

"You love me?" For some reason my brain couldn't comprehend those three words. I rolled them around with my tongue, tasting them. The words felt weird, I hadn't heard those words in such a long time that they almost felt alien to me, and that fact alone depressed me. The last time someone (besides Iroh) said that they loved me was before my mother disappeared.

Katara was silent, thinking to herself.

"Well, I think I might, maybe, kind of, sort of like you too…" I admitted sheepishly.

"Really?" She looked shocked.

"Yeah." I admitted.

She suddenly hurled herself at me and enveloped me in a bone crushing hug. All of the air was squeezed out of my lungs, and it almost hurt, but I didn't care. All I cared about was that someone who loved me was hugging me, it seemed like I had been waiting for this moment for years, and now that it has finally happened… My heart beat was going wild, my stomach was doing flips, and my legs were shaking.

I suddenly got an idea. "Stand up, Katara…" She looked at me strangely but slowly let go of me and stood up with me. She was only feet in front of me, staring at me questioningly.

"Katara…" I began with a cheesy bow and a gentleman-like accent. "Will you dance with me?"

She raised her eyebrow at me with a lopsided smile. "Only if you teach me the tango."

That was her condition, and I gladly accepted it. "Deal."

"What do I do first?" she asked.

"Well first…" I smiled and grabbed her hips, pulling them into me until they met mine roughly. "We need to be really close."

"Oh?" she questioned innocently with a blush.

"Yes, and second, you need to let me lead. I will do all of the work, I'll guide you; tell you exactly what to do through my hands, feet, and eyes. All you need to do is pay attention. Don't get distracted. We need to be one, and you need to know what I'm going to do before I do it." I told her.

"Ok." She said in a serious voice and tried to pay attention.

"And third…" I waited until her eyes met mine. "We move." I placed my left hand on the small of her back and raised my elbow, her arm resting on top of mine, and raised it until it was parallel to the ground. I extended my arm and she placed her right hand in my left one. "Ready?"

She took a deep breath. "Go easy on me."

I smiled at her for a second and the started. I started chanting a hushed 'Quick, quick, slow…' over and over for her as she stumbled through the instruction. I only went through the basic steps of the tango, letting her get used to the pace and the rhythm of the dance, and ten once she seemed more comfortable, I added a surprise dip. It caught her off guard and she stumbled again, stepping on my foot painfully. I grunted loudly and waited for her to catch her balance.

"Sorry." She apologized, but I cut her off with a quick peck to the lips.

We got back into starting position and then began where we left off, this time, when I dipped her, she was ready for it.

She paused and clapped happily. "I did it!" Her smile was ecstatic. "Let's do something harder, this is too easy."

"Are you ready for it?" I asked her skeptically.

"Of course!" she almost yelled with excitement. The high of doing her first dip got to her. "I want to do what you and Jeck did."

I smiled at the thought of doing those kinds if things to her. "Ok…"

I put my hand on her back again and we began to move again. She stared directly into my eyes and it was almost like we were one. We moved almost simultaneously, we turned, and dipped in unison. I went easier on Katara because she was less experienced than her, but we dipped and turned until she was completely comfortable moving with me, the blush on her cheeks completely gone.

I hummed a simple rhythm, a song that I used to hear back at the palace parties in the Fire Nation.

We were suddenly in the palace again. Red banners hung everywhere; the dance floor was swimming with couples dancing. Children ran amuck, playing tag, hiding under the tables. Dancing brought me back home, it was relaxing, and it was me.

I looked into Katara's eyes and smirked. She raised her eyebrows at me, knowing I was about to do something that would probably have her stumbling again. She was right. I winked at her and grabbed her thigh, raising her leg to my hip and forcing her to lean even further into me. I paused, her face only a centimeter from mine, and then leaned forward, capturing her lips with mine. The kiss was heated, our breaths, short, and we kissed with a passion that I done remember ever seeing between us.

We pulled apart with an audible smack. Our chests panted against each others and our foreheads rested on ours. "I think I like the tango…" Katara said breathlessly.

I squeezed her leg where I grasped it. "Yeah…my f-favorite dance." I stuttered out breathlessly.

She laughed a few times and then paused. I noticed that our bodies were still pressed together seamlessly, my legs sandwiching hers, our chests pressed together, my hip between her legs, my arms around her waist. I freed one hand and ran it through her loose curls, feeling the silky smooth strands run through my fingers, the other hand was contentedly placed on her hip. She stared at me with a tinge of a blush on her cheeks, her sensuous lips parted slightly.

I leaned in again and took her lip between my teeth, nibbling on it gently. She groaned into my mouth and then things started to get a little heated…literally. Heat flooded my body and my body seemed to have a mind of its own. My grip tightened on her and my hand ran up Katara's hip, up her ribs, and then gripped her arm tightly. My pulse pounded in my ears as I loosened my other hand from her thigh and placed it on her lower back, sinuously close to her butt. I pulled her further into me as our mouths danced, I couldn't get enough of her, I wanted to be one with her, and I wanted her.

My hand started to inch lower down her back, and just as I was about to do something I was sure to regret later, a voice broke through the fog that was my mind.

"K-Katara?" The voice I knew to be Aang's flowed into my ears.

I gasped, and Katara pulled away from me like I was on fire. Aang stood at the entrance of the willow tree staring at us with tears in his eyes; they flowed freely down his cheeks and splashed almost audibly to the hand dirt.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**I was going to go on with this chapter...but I'd rather have the whole next chapter dedicated to it instead. The next chapter will be really interesting to write.**

**Gosh, there was so much drama in my life this week that I unfortunately didn't get to spend as much time on this chapter as i wanted, but its still not that bad (if I do say so myself). I got together with one of my friends (for 3 years), but then I decided to just go back to being friends with him, but then he started being a complete ass to me. He apparently feels that he cant go back to being friends with me because he still likes me too much...so I lost a good friend in all of this mess. Guys are stupid and irrational (sorry if you're a guy and reading this!) Urgh...this is a long story actually.  
**

**Whatever, I wont bore you with rants about my personal life.**

**Flameo my good hotman, flam-e-o.**

**-edit- Oh crap! I just realized that I passed the 200 review mark! Thank you very much my wonderful readers!! I owe it all to you guys! So all of you regular reviewers, lurkers (I know you're out there!), and general passerby, whip out your keyboards and help me make it to 300, then 400, and then- ok, I'm getting a little carried away now...I'll just go and work on the next chapter...**


	20. The Dark Side of the Moon

**This...was incredibly hard to write...I hope it doesn't suck!**

**Ok, so my sister and I were talking about what "mythical book world" we would like to live in. So first I was like "Eragon!", but then she was like" what about plumbing and plagues?" so I was like "Ok...then Narnia, but durring the rule of Peter and all them less hot annoying kidz." and then things started getting weird when my sister asks "Do you think they all got married and had kids while they were in Narnia?" and I said "Why not? I would have." and then she's like "So little 10 year old Lucy isn't a virgin anymore?" and I go " ... oO...OMFG! You're right!" So if they had kids in Narnia but go back to their world, then that makes them all not virgins anymore. Were both ok with Peter and that stupid slut Susan not being a virgin anymore, but Lucy and Edmond! NO WAAY! The end! Case solved!**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I gasped and Katara pulled away from me like I was on fire. Aang stood at the entrance of the willow tree staring at us with tears in his eyes; they flowed freely down his cheeks and splashed almost audibly onto the hand dirt.

"Aang?!" I heard Katara shriek.

I stood there frozen to the ground, arms limp at my sides. I couldn't say anything, I couldn't even think, I couldn't even think a single coherent thought.

Aang's unfocused eyes seemed to be staring straight through us. He looked like all of the life had been sucked out of him, he looked dead.

I could feel Katara squirming uncomfortably beside me. I felt a bit of pity for her, this is exactly what she didn't want to happen. We had been hiding this relationship ever since we got here, and now we were found. Our façade was up.

I not only felt pity on Katara, I also felt pity on Aang. It must have crushed him to find out like this. He walked in on us expecting to see us ripping each other apart, but instead, we were making out.

"Zuko…" Aang's accusing eyes settled on me.

My mouth opened with the intention to console, to try to make the situation right somehow, but no words left my lips. I was in shock. With one glance at Katara, I could see that her state was similar to mine. She stared at the floor, unable to even look at Aang, and flinched at every sound, every break of a twig, and every chirp of a bird. She was tense, ready to run at any moment. Her stiffness made me on the edge; it was like she knew something I didn't. It was like she was expecting something to happen, but what…I didn't know, and I didn't think she knew herself.

"A-Aang…" Katara stuttered out. She opened her mouth to continue, but nothing came out.

"You promised me." Aang stated firmly, still gazing not at me, but right through me.

My breath came out in a whoosh, him just looking at me was worse than him actually hitting me. "I know, I-"

"You _promised_ me." He cut me off. His eyes finally focused on me and he looked livid…anger was never a look I had never before soon on his happy, childlike face.

"But Aang-"

Aang seemed to be shaking with anger. "You both lied to me, to everyone. How could you do this to us?" he looked at Katara. "To me?"

Katara finally looked at him. Her tear streaked face glistened even though it had started to get dark out. "Aang, we didn't want you to find out like this, we-"

"When were you going to tell me then, never?" He clenched his fists. It was like he was trying to restrain himself, trying to hold himself back.

"We didn't do this to hurt you Aang," she wasn't talking about us fooling around anymore, she meant us keeping everything a secret from him. "Its not like we planned this, you can't help who you fall in love with."

It was the wrong thing to say, I knew it and Aang knew it, but apparently Katara didn't. It's true, you can't help who you fall in love with, and Aang knew that more then anyone else. Right now, he just found out that the girl he has love since he first laid eyes on loves someone else. Also, she mentioned the word love. To find out that your crush liked someone was way different from finding out that she _loved_ someone. Just like how she couldn't help that she loved me, he could not help that he loved Katara.

He turned back to me with a twitch of the neck, ignoring Katara completely now. "How could you have lied to me like that?" I decided to take all of the blame myself; Katara was only ever looking out for everyone else so now it's my job to look out for her this time. "I thought it would be better if you didn't know yet-"

He sneered at me. "Why wait this long?"

It was weird how strangely he was acting (although it was nowhere near uncalled for). He was yelling, cutting us off every time we tried to talk, and the look of anger seemed like it was permanently etched onto his face. "We knew we wouldn't be accepted." I spoke slowly, softly.

He finally exploded. "We accepted you as a person, didn't we? Why wouldn't we accept both of you being together?!"

I spared a glance at Katara. She had been standing silent and frozen the whole time. Shocked, frightened, and sad.

Wind suddenly whipped wildly around us, and when I turned back to face Aang, his face had achieved a new level of anger. "I love her more than anything…" his top lip rose in a snarl. "And you took her away from me!" One final tear leaked down his face and then the unthinkable happened.

My eyes widened as Aangs Arrow tattoos lit up the darkness. My heart beat accelerated until I felt like my heart would burst. The image of Aang in the avatar state was frightening to behold. I had only ever seen him in the avatar stare once before in Ba Sing Se, it was frightening at the time, but not nearly as bad as right now. Back at Ba Sing Se, the bulk of his anger was directed towards Azula, not it was all for me.

The eerie blue glow fell on Katara's face, lighting up her look of utter and complete shock. "Aang…" his name came out of her mouth in a whisper.

"Katara!" I yelled at her, trying to snap her out of it. "You need to get out of here now!"

A violent wind abruptly hit me with such force that I fell backwards and landed on my back, all of the wind was knocked out of me and I had to gasp for breath. I rolled back over onto my stomach and faced Katara, only to find that she had also fallen down. "Katara! Run!"

Katara finally snapped her head in my direction and looked at me blankly. Another violent wind washed over us and I had to dig my toes into the dirt to stop myself from sliding across the dirt. Katara's light body seemed to almost lift off of the ground as she was sent crashing into the trunk of the willow tree.

She let out a grunt and then a scream of pain as she cradled her elbow. The life seemed to return to her eyes and she rushed over to my side. "Zuko! I can't fight him, he's Aang, and he's my best friend!" A small trail of blood leaked down her forehead, creating a path down her cheek and then dripped onto her blue dress.

"This isn't Aang anymore!" I yelled over the roar of wind. "This is-"

A loud crashing noise cut me off. Both of our heads turned simultaneously in Aangs direction. His hands were raised in front of him, his fingers tensed, wrists shaking. It a matter of seconds the ground was filled with dangerous fissures and large chasms. He seemed to be tearing the whole place apart in his anger.

Katara thought quickly and ran over to me, she tripped and stumbled over the short distance, but when she finally reached me she bent some water out of the thin stream and used it to freeze our feet to the ground. She grabbed my arm in a tight grip that would surely leave a bruise and pressed herself as closely to me as possible.

I looked around us wildly and it wasn't until I looked at the tree trunk that I noticed that it was shaking violently. Realization hit me a second later. I roughly yanked my arms free of Katara's vise grip and placed my arms on her shoulders, pushing her down into a crouch. At the last moment, I covered my body with hers and used myself as a shield to protect her from what was about to happen.

The tree was uprooted and lifted from the dirt without caution and thrown lazily fifty feet away. Rocks and branches rained down around us, hitting the dirt with a loud thud.

Something hit my back hard, knocking more air out of my lungs and eliciting a hacking cough. I wanted to cry out in pain, but I had no time, I wanted to run away, but I couldn't leave Katara here with Aang. I wanted to do so much, but my love for Katara kept me here and kept me protecting her. It was as I was covering Katara's shaking body that I came to a realization. I guess the reason that I hadn't attacked Aang yet was that I hoped and prayed that he would calm down and stop, but now I saw that it wasn't going to be the case. If I wanted to stop this, I needed to do something; no…_we_ needed to do something.

One last small rock hit me hard on the back of me neck and then it was silent except for the roar of wind.

I had to act quickly.

I got off of Katara and sent a blast of fire at the ice that secured my feet, careful not to hit Katara, and then I was running full tilt at Aang. I kept my eyes on him, watching every movement, every twitch of his small wiry muscles, which is why I noticed the small shift of his stance. I recognized the new stance; it had been used on me before, but not by him…by Katara.

Every single drop of water that had been in the tiny stream was now in the air hovering over Aang's head. He didn't even need both hands to control the giant mass of water. With one hand, he swirled the water around his head once and sent it crashing towards me. I braced myself for the crash, but all that came was a few droplets of water from above. I opened my eyes and saw Katara standing protectively in front of me, arms outstretched, mist and rain floating slowly to the ground. Katara didn't look at me, but I could tell she was speaking to me. "I can't fight him…but I _won't_ let him hurt you either…"

I nodded to her even though I knew she couldn't see me.

I ran back at Aang and readied fire whips, I aimed them at his head, but at the last moment possible, he raised I rock wall that covered his whole body. A moment later the rock retracted into the ground, but Aang was no longer there. I whipped my head around and looked for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Crap!" I yelled. He could be anywhere…

With a rumble of the earth, Aang popped out of the ground behind me and sent a boulder flying at me. It hit me square in the back, making me stumble forward. My foot caught in a chasm and I hit the floor hard. My head pounded in pain, and my knee ached, but I had no time to think about pain, I was too busy fighting for my life. I scrambled to my feet and faced Aang.

I spat fire from my fist with every punch. Without even moving a finger, he was encased in a solid done of water, protecting himself from my barrage of fire. With a flick of his wrist, the water separated into balls and froze them into solid masses of ice. His glowing eyes seemed to stare into my soul and right through me at the same time. He seemed to smile slightly, then with speed I had never before seen used in bending, he sent the ice at me one at a time.

I heard the impact before I it. The ball hit my right shoulder and I heard a barely audible pop. Pain lanced through my chest and dislocated shoulder, I could barely think about anything else but the throbbing pain in my arm.

I looked back up at Aang right as he sent another ice ball flying at me. Before it hit me, s streak of blue caught my eye and a wall of ice rose in front of me. The ball hit the barrier with a crack and it shattered.

Aang – no, this wasn't Aang- the avatar let out a loud growl and turned towards Katara. The avatar brought his arm up, hand tensed, fingers pointing to the ground stiffly, and slammed his palm into the ground. I saw his hand sink into the ground a few inches and then the ground rumbled. Katara's face took on a look of panic and then she dove out of the way just as the earth below her cracked open.

Before I could even let out a sigh of relief, I was hit in my side by a large rock. I hissed in pain and then dropped to my knees. Aang was by my side in a matter of seconds. I looked up at him and saw that is fist was alight, as bright as his glowing tattoos, and he was pointing a powerful blast right at me.

"NO!" Katara yelled from the sidelines. I didn't look away from Aang but I could tell that Katara was sobbing desperately.

I felt numb to all emotion, even fright.

"You don't want to do this Aang…" I tried to reason with him. "This isn't you, you aren't yourself right now."

"You took her from me." His voice was eerie, his voice combined with the power of the avatars from the past.

His glowing eyes looked at me one last time and then brought his fist back. I braced myself for the deadly strike.

"AANG, NO!" Katara yelled and he stopped.

Aang seemed to be frozen and the fire on his fist sputtered out indignantly.

I almost cried out in relief. He stopped, I wasn't going to die. I expected to see Katara run towards us and scold Aang for all that he had done, but she didn't.

I stared into Aangs face, his expression was no longer angry, it looked like he was struggling, but at what?

It was then that I looked over at Katara. She was facing Aang, palms out, sweat beading on her forehead from what looked like exertion. I looked from between her and Aang and finally put two and two together. "Are you doing this?" I asked her.

She nodded mutely, but never looked at me, never broke her concentration.

"Katara?" I heard Sokka's familiar voice screamed from the edge of the newly created clearing.

"Zuko!" Toph yelled and then threw herself at me. She hugged my tightly around the waist and I almost jumped in surprise. Toph had never shown this kind of affection towards me before. It seemed that once she realized what she was doing, her eyes widened and she let go. "Um…I'm glad you're ok."

"I'm sorry Aang…" I heard Katara mutter as I turned to her. She squeezed both her open hands into a fist and Aang immediately slumped to the floor, unconscious. His tattoos finally returned to their normal blue.

"Katara! What happened?" Sokka ran to her and hugged her tightly as she just stood there; staring at what she had done to Aang. "We heard a crash and saw the dist then-" he caught sight of Aang and froze mid sentence. Sokka's eyes immediately turned to me and within seconds his sword was at me neck. "What did you do to him?!"

"Aang attacked me…" I said breathlessly.

Sokka gasped. "Liar!"

"Its…true…" Katara said slowly, still in shock.

"Why would he do that?" Toph asked.

"B-because I love Zuko…" she answered before she could think.

"YOU WHAT?" Sokka yelled and his sword clamored to the ground.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**I think this is the worst fight scene I have ever written...wow...**

**Anyways! I always wanted Aang to go ballistic when he finds out about Zuko and Katara, so I was like "What the hell!" and I wrote it! I decided later to kave katara go all bloodbendy on his ass.**

**I decided that I'm probably going to drag this fic out and have it cover the confrontation between Aang and the Firelord...but thats only if you guys want it...**

**P.s.- Why did I choose "The dark side of the moon" for the chapter title? Because it basically said in the Sozins comet book that "The Puppet Master" (The ep she actually learns bloodbending in) was originally titled ****"The dark side of the moon". No Jokes.  
**


	21. Sokka

**Its a day late, but hey, at least its here!**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

As Sokka's sword clanked to the ground, it hit me –not the sword, but a realization. The reason Katara wanted to be so secretive about us could all be summed up in one word…Sokka. Everything I didn't understand about Katara's decision before now became as obvious to me as the full moon that hung above our heads and the dumbfounded look that was now on Sokka's face. I tried to take back every thought of doubt I ever felt over Katara's decision, and now I even wished I could turn back time and fix it all.

Sokka stared into the unoccupied space between Katara and me with a blank, slack, expression. His face clearly read: 'I'm going to stand here and deny everything I just heard.'

I was about to open my mouth and help him on his way to denying everything, but Iroh suddenly came careening out of the forest. He stopped right in front of me and bent forward with his hands on his knees, breathing deeply from breathlessness. He must have run all the way over here, and as I say him so out of breath, it reminded me of Iroh's age. He was getting old. I always used to think of him as indestructible, but now…

When Iroh finally recovered, he looked at me; his eyes seemed to bore into my soul, like he was looking right into my mind. With one glance at Aangs unconscious body, Iroh seemed to know exactly what happened. With a sad smile, Iroh encased me in a bone crushing hug, a hug that was filled with both sadness and happiness at my situation.

A surprising pain gripped my arm and I couldn't stifle the scream of pain as he squeezed my shoulder that he didn't know had been dislocated, and to be honest, with all of the craziness that was happening, I forgot myself. Iroh let go of me and examined me carefully, and although I told him thousands of times to go and check out Aang, he fretted over me.

He made a small sound of pity and then addressed Sokka, "Go and check Aang for injuries." He commanded. Sokka jumped into action and ran to where Aang, but the dazed and confused expression never left his face. I turned to watch Sokka check Aang, but when I did, Iroh grabbed my shoulder, surprising me, and popped it back into place. Another wave of pain hit me, but it was not as intense as the first, my arm seemed to be slowly numbing.

Iroh kneeled next to Aangs limp body and began checking him for a pulse and any other injuries along with Sokka.

Iroh glanced back at me and Katara and nodded towards our camp. I knew Iroh was giving Katara and me a chance for a clean escape back to the campsite, so I took it. I ran towards Katara, grabbed her arm, and made a break for it. Katara didn't yell, struggle, or question what I was doing, I think she knew that we should get away from there just in case Aang woke up or Sokka snapped out of his shock.

We made it back to the campsite quickly. I released Katara from my grip and then ran to my stuff. I didn't know what would happen when everyone came back, but I wanted to be prepared so I strapped my swords on and stuffed my dagger into my sash.

I made my way to Katara, who was trying to keep busy by cleaning up Sokka's mess, and gave her a big hug.

I could only think that Sokka was probably going to kill me once he comes to his senses, so if I ever wanted to kiss her again, then I'd better do it now.

I tried to kiss her softly and savor the moment, but all of my intentions went up in smoke as soon as my lips touched hers.

There was fire everywhere, because she was everywhere. Her hands traced my skin, burning it. Her lips tasted every inch of my face. Katara pushed me roughly and my back hit the prickly bark of a tree, but there was no pain, I couldn't feel anything but the burning.

Her hands knotted in my hair, pulling me into her as if there were any possible way for us to be closer.

I switched our positions and slammed her back into the tree. Her legs wrapped around my waist, the tree giving her the leverage she needed. My tongue twisted with hers and there was no part of me that was not invaded by the insane desire that possessed me.

"What in the name of Yue are you-"

I detached myself from Katara only to find Sokka staring at us from across the clearing. "Get off my baby sister!" Sokka yelled and then charged at me, sword drawn.

I cursed loudly and then pushed Katara, who was as dazed as I was from the kiss, away from me. This is the second time Katara has been put in danger by someone she loved today, and I was actually getting pretty tired of it.

I unsheathed my swords and waited for Sokka. He swung his sword at me hard and fast, aiming for the juncture between my shoulder and neck, but my swords rose up to meet his quickly, blocking his blow. His sword sliced slowly through the air, but what it lacked in speed, it made up for in power.

Sokka seemed determined to chop off my head, and with every swing he came closer and closer to achieving that goal. He swung his sword with such power that I had to use both swords and all of my strength to block his blows, but with my arm still pulsing painfully, every block got weaker and weaker.

I could hear Katara yelling at us faintly in the background, but she didn't interfere, she knew that this was between Sokka and me.

I tried to use my superior strength and agility to my advantage, but the power behind his heavy sword leveled my strength. I ducked one of his blows and spun around him so that his back was against mine. I waited for the blow I knew would come, and when it did I quickly dodged it. His sword made an arc over his head, and when it didn't his me it kept going despite his attempts to stop it. His balance faltered and he fell backwards, hitting his head on the hard dirt.

I did a flip backwards and landed right in front of him, my swords crossed at his neck. I could have killed him right then, but I wasn't a killer, I wasn't my father.

I took a step backwards and sheathed my swords as he got to his feet.

He looked murderous, but made no further move to attack. "Get out." he commanded through clenched teeth.

I looked at Sokka, confused and a little worried.

Katara stepped in front of me. "Sokka, what are you saying-"

"He needs to leave; he can't stay with us anymore." Sokka cut her off.

I froze. He wanted me to leave. Where would I go? What would I do? I couldn't leave Katara after what just happened. But the longer I thought about it, I realized he was right. I can't stay as long as Aang is here. The little kid is kind of like an annoying kid brother in some ways, and if I stayed here, it would hurt him. It would be a lot safer for everyone here for me to just leave for a while.

"He can't just leave!" Katara yelled. "Where would he go?"

"I don't really care." Sokka answered coldly, hate burning in his eyes as he glared at me.

"What do you mean 'you don't really-"

I put my arm on her shoulder and sighed. "No, he's right…I'll leave." I walked over to my small bag of stuff and shouldered it. I was glad that I hardly had anything so it was easy to pack up.

Sokka smiled triumphantly at my submission.

Katara looked like she wanted to hit me. "No, you're staying right here, if Sokka doesn't want you here, then he can leave."

I sighed and grabbed Katara's arm, pulling her off to the side so I could talk to her without Sokka hearing. "It would be bad for Aang to see me right now; he hates me now. I won't be far from the camp though; I'll stay close so you can get me when things calm down enough for me to come back."

"If you're going, then I'm coming too." She asserted impulsively and began to gather her stuff.

"No." I called to her as she walked away. "I couldn't do that to you; just stay here with your family and friends."

"W-what do you think you're doing?!" Sokka yelled at her and grabbed her hand roughly, stopping her from packing her stuff.

I saw her flinch in pain and let out a growl of anger. "You're hurting her Sokka, you better let go if you know what's good for you."

"She's not going with you." He started pulling at her arm as she struggled to get away. "She needs to stay here."

"Why? So you can yell at her and harass her for liking me?" I stepped towards him threateningly. "Let her go now, or I'll make you." I flashed my sword at him.

Sokka paused and Katara was able to yank free of him. When he spoke again, his voice was controlled. "Choose now. Zuko or me."

Katara's eyebrows furrowed, and then her expression relaxed. But in that short moment, her face clearly read anger and sadness.

When she spoke, she did it quietly. "I'm sorry Sokka, but someone who loved me wouldn't make me choose, you told me I couldn't be with someone I love. I can't deal with you right now. If you want me back, then Zuko has to be welcome too." She took my hand. "Let's go Zuko."

I stood still in shock, but was brought back to earth by a painful tug to my arm. I grunted, but let her lead me out of the campsite. I just couldn't believe that she chose to stay with me, the idea seemed impossible. How could she choose me over her family? I know Sokka was being a complete jerk, but wasn't she used to that already? But it was true that Aang would not likely forgive us easily about what had happened today. I knew Aang would always love her, and he wouldn't easily forget our lies and trickery.

"Where are we going to stay?" I asked Katara quietly.

She paused and I almost bumped into her. "I don't really care." She said gruffly, but I saw her shoulders shake with unshed tears.

I squeezed her hand and gave her a hug. We stood there for a while, just embracing each other. Crickets chirped slowly as she cried with grief on my shoulder. She cried for her brother, Aang, and she cried for herself.

The night drew on, the animals slept, and the wind blew. We couldn't change what just happened, we could only move on and live with whatever consequences we were delt, be it good or bad.

I let out an involuntary yawn, it was late, and even the memory of what happened earlier today, could not wake me up. "Come on Katara, we need to get some sleep, it's really late and we need our rest."

She let out a small hiccup that was wet with tears. "Ok."

When she drew away from me, she left a wet spot where her face had been. "Sorry." She apologized with another small laugh.

"Its' ok…" I drew out a long sigh and rubbed at my eyes. "Um…did you bring a blanket we could sleep on?"

She closed her eyes tightly. "Crap…I didn't, but I do have a sleeping bag…"

I sighed. "Is it big enough for both of us?"

She blushed. "If we squeeze in real tight."

I sighed again, "Ok, I'll sleep on the ground…"

"No!" she yelled, and a look of panic graced her face briefly.

I jumped slightly at her small outburst.

She continued shyly. "I mean…I don't want to be alone tonight…I just…I need someone to hold me."

I couldn't deny her emotional comfort, if she needed me, I would be there for her. What happened to her tonight was obviously worse than what happened to me, so I had to be there for her no matter what she needed. "Ok."

After about ten minutes of awkward shifting and squeezing, we were able to crawl into the one-man sleeping bag.

Katara fell asleep quickly, but I stayed awake for a long time just listening to the sounds of the forest, wondering what life would throw at me next.

When I finally did fall asleep, it was with Katara in my arms. I held her tightly, not willing to let her go for a second. We were tangled in each other, we were one, and I had a feeling that is how it was supposed to be from the beginning. Now and forever.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**I know some of you guys are like "Why did she choose her Zuko over her own brother?" Well, you have to understand, she was angry at Sokka. She is the 'caretaker' of the group, always putting everyone else's needs before hers, and the one time she finally did put her needs before everyone else's, regardless of what they thought about her decision, it all blew up in her face. Everyone is mad at her (except for Iroh and Toph of course) and she just doesn't want to deal with that hate and disapproval right now. She just needs time. Dont worry, she's not going to run away with Zuko and never speak to her family again.  
**

**Sokka...oh Sokka...you and your stupid pride, why did you make your sister choose? Hmmm...I hope it all turns out ok in the end! (Ha ha ha to you guys! I know exactly what is going to happen!)**

**Ok, so...I am really excited about what is going to happen next...its going to be good (at least I think it is.)**

**Whatever, I have to go now. I'll see you laterz.**


	22. Surprise

**I**** know...I'm horrible to keep you all waiting so long for this chapter. Sorry. I do have a reason though...  
**

**...as for my excuse...**

**Ok, so my reasons started out as this: the day after my last update I sat down at my computer and opened a new doc for the next chapter. I put my hands on the keyboard, typed a few sentence, and then froze. for some reason I just couldn't write anymore.**** My inspiration had left me for another woman.**** It wasn't like I didn't know what to write...I just didn't want to write. I just...stopped caring...  
**

**I tried sitting down and forcing myself to write something, but I knew you guys wouldn't want a chapter that I had to pretty much hold a gun to my head to produce.  
**

**I planned to take a few days off and then try and write again, but a week passed and still nothing. Then, as I sat down in front of the computer with my hands held still on my lap, trying to come up with a chapter, I came to a realization...**

**I was obsessed with Avatar.**

**I knew this before (obviously) but the extent of that obsession finally hit me. Avatar, since it first aired, had completely taken over my life. Avatar and fanfiction had become more important to me than my friends. It interfered with my grades and schoolwork...heck, during my classes, I wrote in my fanfiction notebook instead of paying attention...it invaded my mind like a parasite. I realized then that I needed to take a break from avatar. And now I am finally ready to come back to the avatar fandom.**

**So there it is...my excuse.**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

It was only two days later when we saw Sokka again. The time before he appeared was spent either in silence or with Katara telling me how annoying Sokka was. She had stayed angry at Sokka the whole time, but I knew the wall she was building up would crumble once she laid eyes on him. Sokka was, after all, her brother.

When he finally came, we could tell that he was still mad, and he hadn't changed his opinion about our relationship much, but nonetheless, he came to us anyway.

We expected him to apologize to us and try to be civil, for Aang's and Katara's sake, but when we laid our eyes on him, we could tell that it would not be possible.

He walked into our little makeshift camp quickly and then he stopped and stared at us. His face bore no emotion, but his posture said it all. His arms crossed over his chest, closing him off emotionally to us. His foot tapped in annoyance, and his eyes never really made contact with us.

"Lets go." He commanded out of the awkward silence that had resonated from his entrance.

Katara spoke first. "We're not going anywhere with you until you-"

"Aang's gone!" He cut her off. "Let's go!"

My heart sank into my stomach. "What?"

His lip curled in disgust, and his jaw clenched and unclenched at the sound of my voice, but he spoke to me anyway. I had to give it to him, at least he was trying. "You heard me… After he woke up, he ran away. We have no idea where he is and when he's coming back. Azula can't be far behind so we have to find him."

I put my hand on Katara's arm in a reassuring gesture but still stayed quiet, whatever I said would make things worse. Sokka still hated me, and I doubt that anything I say would change that.

"What did you just say?" Katara asked again in disbelief, a horrified expression painting her face, her hate towards him forgotten. She looked at Sokka with an expression that prayed to the gods hoped he was lying to us.

He took a step towards her. "We need to go and find Aang so we can leave; we already spent too much time here already."

A thought entered my mind. "Where's Iroh?" I expected Iroh to be the first one we saw. I thought he would come to us earlier to seek peace or something.

His jaw clenched some more, and he looked at Katara. She nodded encouragingly, and he spoke to me. "He's with Toph, they're looking for him on Appa." His voice was tight and strained, but I appreciated the effort. Sokka took one last look at Katara and then headed back to the campsite, leaving us to follow behind him.

"I can't believe Aang would do this!" she yelled to no one in particular.

"I can…" I mumbled to myself quietly. He was a child after all. Aang, being the Airbender he is, would rather run from his problems instead of facing them.

She didn't hear me. "C'mon, Sokka's waiting for us… Let's hurry." She took my hand and pulled me along behind her.

We made it to the camp quickly, never having been far from it in the first place, and started our searching. We all split up and went separate ways, thinking it better to cover more ground as quickly as possible.

I searched for half the day but never found him. Eventually I decided to give up and return to camp, I had wandered pretty far, and it was possible that one of the others already found him.

When I stepped through the trees and into the camp, I was immediately tackled by Iroh with a hug.

"Are you ok? I was worried; you were gone so long…" He gushed.

"What do you mean? I was looking for Aang…" I looked over his shoulder towards the group for help, but they were all gathered in a circle, heads together in conference.

Iroh's old and wise eyes locked onto mine. "We know where Aang is."

"Really? Where?" I asked excitedly and scanned the camp once more, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"No, Zuko… You don't understand…" He took a breath, "When we came back, there was a note…"

Katara was suddenly at my side, and a piece of paper was on her outstretched palm. I looked at her and my heart plummeted. She looked utterly defeated. I suddenly felt fear. What could have happened to him?

I took the note and read it.

_I have your friend. If you value his life, have the __F__irebender and his wench come alone._

Underneath the writing was a poorly drawn map that would lead us to him. The script was sloppy and short, but I understood it anyway. Someone had Aang, but whom? It wouldn't have been Azula…she never would have left a note, it's not her style.

"Zuko…" my attention was drawn back to Katara. She was shaking with visible fright and agitation "It's him…"

It took me a second to process what she said. 'It's him'? What does that mean? Who's 'him'? Then the gears in my head started turning. There is only one man who could get this kind of reaction from Katara…Kanjou. "No…that's impossible." I said in disbelief. Why would he take Aang?

"It has to be, who else would do this? Who else would single us out like that?" she told me with conviction.

I still couldn't believe her. I thought we got rid of him a while ago. Why would he come back now? And why would he take Aang? How would he even know about him? Unless…maybe he hadn't been far from us this whole time, maybe he had just been watching and waiting, waiting for us to make a mistake. A mistake like letting Aang find out about us.

She was right. She had to be. He was back, and now he wanted to finish the job, to get his revenge on us. He was never going to give up.

"Ok…" I paused, thinking. "What are we going to do?" I asked Katara.

Her eyes shifted between the piece of paper in her hands and me. "There's only one thing we can do…"

I hesitated. "Are you sure? We don't know what will happen once we find him."

"I don't care!" She yelled and then calmed herself. "We have to go find him. He had Aang."

"No, no, no!" Sokka thundered towards us and took Katara's hand. "You are _not _going to go look for this guy." His ease dropping on our conversation was made apparent by his sudden outburst.

"But Sokka, he has Aang, we have to-"

He cut Katara off. "No Buts. We will find another way to deal with this, in the meantime, we need to pack up Appa, and we leave in the morning."

"But what about Aang?"

He snatched the paper out of my hand and held it up to her, pointing to the map. "We know exactly where he is, once we find out a way that we can all go together, we will save him…but until then…" He let the sentence hang and then slipped the note into his tunic.

I placed my hand on Katara's shoulder. I knew what she was thinking. They didn't know Kanjou like we did, the only one who could possibly understand was Iroh, but he had been thoughtfully silent throughout this whole exchange. They had never seen his face or the way he leered at you. They would never feel the same fear that coursed through our veins every time we thought of him. No, they would never understand.

Iroh's hand placed itself on her other shoulder and her shaking calmed. She knew we felt her pain, and she knew we were there for her.

Sokka looked satisfied by Katara's silence, mistaking it for submission, and left to start packing up.

Iroh left Katara's side and joined Toph, who was sitting on the ground and watching Sokka run around like an idiot.

My hand slipped off her shoulder and slipped into hers, I laced my fingers through hers gently and squeezed it. "We'll leave for him after they fall asleep." I told her calmly.

She didn't look surprised at all; she just nodded as if that were her plan as well.

"I'll get the note from Sokka." She informed me forcefully.

I smirked. "I'll get you when they're sleeping." I didn't bother looking around at the others before I kissed her forehead and then left to pack Appa. I had to help and appear casual or else they might expect something, so I kept quiet as usual and stayed to myself, not really inserting myself into their conversations as usual.

It seemed like day only lasted minutes, and soon enough it was night.

A good while after everyone retired to bed, I lifted my body quietly out of the dirt, having preferred sleeping on the cold ground due to the strange weather, and crept over to where Katara usually sleeps.

But suddenly, just as I stepped around Sokka's bags, I heard a twig to my right break. My whole body tensed as I spun around, bracing myself for an attack, but to my surprise I saw that it was only Iroh.

My stomach fell as I got ready for him to scold me for being so careless. But to my surprise, he just put his hands on my shoulders and gripped them tightly. "Come back safe." Iroh told me.

"You're not going to tell me to stay?" I asked in confusion.

"I knew you would do something like this, nephew, I had time to consider it and I know I can trust you to do the right thing. Just be careful." He replied with a slightly far off look on his face as if he were remembering my past.

"T-thank you…" I said, still surprised.

"Don't mention it, just bring Aang back."

"I will."

"And keep Katara safe." He winked at me and walked away, whistling innocently.

It took me a minute before I was able to smile, but now that I knew that I had Iroh's approval, the smile didn't seem to go away.

As my eyes followed Iroh on his way back to his bedroll, I spotted Toph sitting upright and staring at me through the entrance of her earth tent. I tensed for the second time that night. Toph could easily stop me from going if she wanted too, she could also wake Sokka up at any moment.

"If we ever listened to what Sokka told us to do then we'd all be dead." She told me soberly but with a hint of a smile. "I won't stop you, but if you don't bring Aang back…" she cracked her knuckles menacingly.

I got an idea. "Toph, can you try and keep Sokka from following us after he leaves?" I asked her hesitantly.

She smiled widely. "Are you kidding me? It would be my pleasure!" She laughed and crawled back into her earth tent to sleep.

I shuddered at the thought of what she had in store for Sokka.

"Oh!" Toph yelled and poked her head out from her tent. I flinched at the loud noise and looked at Sokka, but thankfully he was still sleeping soundly. Toph began speaking again. "Katara is waiting for you over there." She pointed to my right and crawled back into her tent.

I lit a small flame in the darkness and walked out of the campsite. I knew we should hurry, so I walked quickly and then scanned the forest for Katara.

Suddenly, I heard a twig break directly behind me around I turned around to find Katara staring at me. Her face set in a determined mask.

"Do you have the map?" I asked her.

"Of course I do." She informed me with an edge to her voice as if I'd insulted her just by asking.

"Was it hard to get?" I asked her as I tried to suppress a chuckle.

"Sokka could sleep through anything." She smiled at me. "It was like taking candy from a sleeping baby."

I made a small noise of amusement. "I'm sure he could sleep through an earthquake…"

"A what?" She asked me.

"An earthquake…" I saw her look on confusion. "What? You don't know what an earthquake is?"

She shook her head. "No, we don't have those in the watertribes…"

"That's a good thing, I hate earthquakes." I shuddered. Earthquakes still terrify me to this day. I snapped out of my thoughts. "Are you ready?" I asked her.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

I smiled at her and took her hand. We walked into the darkness with only my small flame to give us light.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**I'll see you next update.**

**Oh, and p.s- About the finale...Is it only me or did every part with Aang in is kinda suck? Even the battle between him and Ozai was kinda lame...he like ran pretty much the whole time... But wow, the Agni kai?? That was epic! Kataang can have their cannon kiss, we have a Zutara love scar. Kataanger's can kiss my butt. I'm going to go and look at some CapslockZutara and CapslockAtla posts and experience the capslocky luls that only come with Crazula, Tophgod, Wang Fire, Sexytiem Zutara, and the art of penance.  
**


	23. Kanjou

**I hope no one forgot about this story!**

**Ok…so here is the spill. School started and I just became swamped with work and other obligations and such. I admit, there had been times where I definitely could have written this chapter, but I just didn't feel like it. One of my friends (Vimuku/my beta) had her birthday and what she wanted was a Naruto/Gaara fanfic. And thanks to her (and another good friend who wanted a Harry Potter fic) I was reminded exactly why I loved writing. So thank them! (And the few that asked me to update)**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"I can't believe you…" Katara folded her arms across her chest. "We're going to do this without a plan?"

I ignored her and kept walking at the fast pace we had been traveling at for the last day.

"If you ask me…" She sped up and stood in front of me, stopping me mid-stride. "We should stop and think. I don want to go running into one of his traps without a good plan…"

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and stopped. "Ok then, what do you have in mind?"

This shut her up, and I continued. "Exactly. So for now, we keep walking until we either get here-" I held up the crinkled map. "-or we come up with a plan." I side-stepped Katara and continued walking.

She didn't move for several seconds, but by the time she did, she had to jog to catch up to me. Although I expected her to argue more with me about the fact, I was surprised to see that she didn't.

I made a grunt of satisfaction. That guaranteed me at least ten minutes to think before she started to talk again.

I knew we couldn't just storm inside the cave and expect to catch him off guard. He's clever, he does this kind of thing for a living, and I know he'll be ready for us. Is there really anything we could do besides walk over there and hope for the best? Is that all we can do? A feeling of dread swept over me. We're probably walking to our death. This could be the last time I talk to Katara…

I reached out and grasped Katara's hand tightly and looked her in the eyes, telling her I loved her without saying it. She squeezed back gently and gave me a quick kiss just below my scarred ear. "Don't worry. We'll be fine as long as we have each other."

I smiled at her and, embarrassingly enough, my heart did a little flip. "Ok."

Katara smiled at me and my pulse quickened. "It's starting to get dark, let's stop for today."

"Ok." I repeated and felt like an idiot. Her smile had that effect on me. Her smile seemed to light up the whole world, as lame as that sounds, or better yet (and possibly even more lame) her smile lit up my world. "Um…let's stop here then."

"Sure, I'll set up while you get dinner." She said happily seemingly without a care in the world.

"Yeah." I told her and stumbled out of her sight. I wanted to kill myself. You'd think that I would get used to the kind of effect she had on me. I had never been one to blush easily, but it seemed that every time she smiled at me I did so. Katara is the first girl that had ever been able to get these kinds of reactions out of me. Even when were in the face of danger like right now, she is able to make me feel like an idiot. Damn… I really need to control my hormones.

I searched for food while being very distracted. And in those twenty minutes that I was away from her, I decided something. No matter what, no harm will befall her. Even if I have to put myself in harm's way, she _will _walk away from this alive and well, with or without me.

With a slash of my swords, I caught a chicken rabbit and brought it back to out makeshift camp with me.

Katara already had the logs for our fire set up and a pot of water boiling when I got there.

I sat down at the base of the tree, but as soon as I put my butt on the hard ground, I was extremely tired. Exhaustion hit me hard and without warning. Finally, the whole day I spent walking caught up to me. I yawned and got the work on gutting and cutting the animal while she bustled around camp. It made me smile when I saw that she only set up one large area for sleeping in. That always meant one of two things… Either she was selfish and wanted lots of room or she wanted me to spend the night with her again, but then again, it also could just mean she wanted my body heat. Either way, I still get to sleep with her.

I sent a ball of flames towards the fire lazily from where I was sitting, only to realize I'd have to get up anyway to actually put the food on the fire. I sat down for a bit longer, but soon hunger won over exhaustion, and I finally forced myself to get up and cook the meat.

With no seasoning for the meat, I knew it wouldn't be very tasty, but hey, what can you do? After the chicken rabbits were done, I carried the larger portion over to where Katara was resting on our makeshift bed.

What I saw nearly made me drop the food. Katara was sitting on the blankets with her head rested on her knees, her shoulders shook with silent tears, and I immediately lost my appetite. I rushed to her side, placing the food near us just in case she finally decided she wanted to eat, and sat next to her, unsure of what to do. I suddenly remembered what my mother used to do to me when I cried and tried to do the same. I put my hand on her back and rubbed it gently. At my touch, she released her knees, hurled herself at me, and started crying even harder.

"Shh…It's okay, Katara, I'm here." I whispered and fixed her so she was cradled in my lap.

"I'm just so worried about Aang. This is all my fault." She sobbed into the crook of my neck, soaking my shirt with her tears.

"This isn't your fault at all. He would have found out eventually, and he would have ran away just the same. He's only 12, Katara, remember that." I tried to reassure her, but it seemed to make her cry even harder.

"But if he didn't find out, Kanjou wouldn't have him right now, he was after us…but now A-Aang is in trouble." She sobbed.

"But don't you understand? He would have come after us anyway! If not yesterday, it would have been another day. What we've learned about him so far is that he doesn't give up." I whispered into her hair.

She shifted on my lap and looked up at me. "I know, but that doesn't make me feel much better…" She tried to choke out a laugh, but it wasn't very convincing. "I just hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he's fine, Katara…" I told her confidently.

"Really?" she asked with a sniffle.

"Yes." I repeated again.

"Ok." She told herself, trying desperately to believe me. "I love you, you know that…"

I smiled at her, my heart squeezing inside my chest. "I know." I gave her a deep kiss on her lips.

She snuggled into my chest. "Thank you." She told me after a while.

I squeezed her even tighter. "It's nothing, really. You should eat though. We haven't had any food since breakfast."

"I'm not hung-" she was cut off by the mutinous growl of her own stomach.

I smiled at her. "What was that? I couldn't hear over the roar of your stomach." I taunted her.

She hit me playfully and grabbed the food. "Shut up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I laughed and grabbed my portion. "Just eat. We'll need our strength for tomorrow." I reminded her.

She paused, sighed sadly, and continued eating. "I hope were ready…" she said through a mouthful of food."

"We are… And remember, we've beaten him before." I reminded her, leaving out the part about how it was mostly luck that we were able to get away all of those times.

"Yeah, we have." She smiled again and took another bite of food.

I dusted off my food quickly and flopped down onto the blanket just in time to see the sun disappear behind the trees. She crawled next to me a minute later and lay parallel to me with her head resting on my chest. I reached down and put my arms around her, sharing my warmth.

I didn't expect myself to fall asleep quickly, but within a few minutes of looking at the stars, I was completely out.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I cracked my eyes open a few hours later. I didn't know what it was that woke me up, but after a few sleepy minutes of staring at the dark sky, it hit me.

Katara was practically on top of me.

Well, crap.

I blushed and shifted, but then so did she, ensnaring me under her even further and sending heat to a place too embarrassing to mention.

I tried to move slowly and scoot out, but she groaned quietly and moved her leg in-between mine, trapping me and putting us into an even more compromising position.

I brought my hand to my forehead with a slap as very inappropriate images flooded my mind. I now doubted it I could ever look her in the eye again.

I had to remember that she was asleep and that she had no idea what was happening right now, but it was very hard to convince myself that she needed her rest and not to wake her up.

I quickly rolled out from under her, not caring if I woke her up anymore, and ran into the forest.

I had a bigger problem now.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

"I wonder what Toph did to Sokka to keep him from coming…"

"She probably buried him up to his neck in rocks." I said distractedly. I was sure we were really close to our destination.

"I'm a little frightened for him actually… What if she hurt him?"

I was about to tell her that I knew for a fact that she had hurt him, but I changed my mind last minute.

"Shhh." I whispered and signaled Katara to stop. "I think were here."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked with a frightened squeak.

I rolled my eyes, pulled out the map, and then crumpled it up and threw it at her. "I'm sure, now shut up."

She opened her mouth to yell at me, thought better of it, and then chose to glare at me instead.

I stopped and crouched down in the thicket. "Get down." I whispered. "They should be in that cave right there" I pointed towards a wide crack in a wall of rock. "Too bad we can't see in there."

Katara squatted next to me. "I can't see Kanjou around, so let's just find Aang and go."

"I don't know…" I told her. "This is probably a trap."

"Isn't that what I've been telling you this entire time?" Katara whispered fiercely. "But what can we do 'Mr. I Don't Have a Plan'? I don't want to just sit here while he could be torturing Aang."

"Just wait for a second." I told her and slowly started a weird looking squat/crawl around the radius of the cave. I saw no sign of life, but he did this kind of thing for a living. He probably already knew I was here and was preparing to pounce any minute. And for the first time in my life, I hoped I was wrong.

"Ok, I don't see him. Let's sneak in, I'll go first. Ready?" I asked.

No answer.

I repeated myself again, this time as loud as I dared. "I'll go first. Ready?"

Again, no answer.

I sighed and turned around, but my heart died inside my chest as my eyes took in the sight of Kanjou holding Katara with a dagger pressed into her throat.

I immediately jumped up. "Let her go now." I demanded, my voice shaking with anger.

"As you wish…your majesty." He did a mock bow, dragging her into one too. He laughed and shoved Katara my way, sheathing his dagger. "Thank you for joining me today."

I was surprised that he let her go so easily, all I knew was this is nothing but a game to him."I'm not here to play your stupid games!" I yelled angrily at him. "Just tell us where the avatar is!"

"The avatar?" his forehead crinkled innocently. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Don't you understand what your doing?" Katara asked, trying to appeal to whatever humanity he had left. She took a step forward. "he's the worlds last hope for peace, don't doom us all! Do you want to live in a world ruled by the firelord?"

You insult me! I might work for the bastards, but I still hate them." He told us calmly, talking his dagger out again and began using it to scratch his whisker covered chin.

"Then why Aang?" Katara demanded, and I had to stop her from taking another step towards him.

He gave us a boisterous laugh. "You don't understand, do you?"

"Stop playing with us. Just give us the avatar." I commanded through clenched teeth.

"Please…" Katara begged.

"Let me tell you something…" Kanjou smiled dangerously with narrowed eyes. "I never had the avatar."

My vision tunneled and I could hear Katara stumble as she tried to catch her balance. "I-…I don't understand."

"Don't screw with us! Hand him over!" Katara's hysterical outburst supprised me and snapped me out of it.

Kanjou laughed again, I could see every scar, every hideous imperfection on his face. "You guys couldn't have given me a better opportunity- no…I take that back- the _avatar_ couldn't have given me a better one. He sent you to your deaths."

A shiver ran down my spine. I grabbed katara's arms and pulled her behind me as he continued.

"Without a care in the world, without any regard for the safety of his friends, he gust flew off in a temper tantrum. Maybe you should have let him down a little easier." He told Katara with a laugh.

His knowledge of everything scared me, just how long had he been watching us?

My voice was shaky, but whether with anger or fright, I didn't know. "You mean, you really don't have the avatar?"

Kanjou bowed to me. "Yes. When everyone scattered to look for 'the worlds last hope for peace', I put up the note and knew you would come. As a matter of fact, I'm sure the avatar is back at your camp right now wondering where you are."

I felt Katara unsheathe the dagger I kept hidden on me, and the phrase 'never give up without a fight' ran through me mind, giving me renewed determination to defeat Kanjou. When she took the dagger, the reality of an inevitable battle sunk in, and I knew we wouldn't have much time before the fight started.

"I just have one more question." I told him, hoping Katara would use my stal to come up with a plan. "Why go through all of this just to get us?"

"When I tell you to run, then run…" Katara whispered to me.

Kanjou smiled at me again, his broken and rotten teeth shining. "Why? Because I always finish my job."

I could feel ice at my back and knew what she was going to do.

"Run." She whispered as she sent sharp spheres of water at Kanjou. We took off, not bothering to find out if she hit her ark. The only thing on my mind was getting Katara out of there safely.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o  
**

* * *

**Tralala...**

**I think it is safe to say that it wont take me so long to update with the next chapter...**

**And remember guys, don't kill me for taking so long to update...I'm too young to die.**

**p.s.- When did they change the format for everything? Thats just anoying...I have no idea how to do anything anymore. I guess this is my punishment for leaving, I have to learn to work the site all over again.  
**


	24. On their own

**Hey guys…have you ever sneezed so hard you bit your tongue??? Cuz seriously guys…ow…it sucks.**

**OMG, this is the longest fight scene I have ever written...its like the whole chapter...but I had so much fun doing it!  
**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I could have easily outrun Katara, but I hung back and allowed her get ahead of me. I knew that Kanjou had to be close behind, so I made sure that if he was going to catch anyone, then it was definitely going to be me. So as we ran, I hoped that if both of us survived this, she would forgive me for pushing her ahead and yelling at her like a madman to go faster.

There were several loud crashes as Kanjou's large bulk made its way through the forest.

I swerved to avoid a tree and sent a fireball behind me and prayed to Agni for the best.

My ears were kept alert as I ran for a howl of pain that would prove I hit my mark, but the thundering of his footsteps didn't even snow… It sped up. I pushed Katara ahead once more just as a hand reached around my head and grasped my neck.

My mouth opened in a silent gasp of pain as my throat was yanked backward. I was falling backwards in a second. My back hit the ground first, and was followed by my head cracking into the hard ground. The impact made me bite my tongue hard, and the metallic taste of blood welled up in my mouth. My head throbbed, and all of the air was knocked out of me, but when I gasped for air, my throat scratched painfully. I arched my back and rolled over. Only Katara was on my mind.

I wiped my chin of the mixture of blood and saliva that had dribbled out of my mouth. I spit and tried to find Katara. I hoped that she had kept going, but my hope was dashed when I saw that she was still as stone.

"NO! Run!" I rasped and groaned at the dual pains in my throat and head.

Katara got into a fighting stance. "I'm not leaving you." Katara said with conviction.

I spot out more blood that had pooled in my mouth and grimaced.

"How sweet," Kanjou said, his voice as thick as honey. And without warning, he ran at her.

I grabbed blindly for Kanjou's ankle and grabbed it as tightly as I could, but he broke free from my grasp as if it were nothing.

A small cry came from the back of my throat as he lashed at Katara with one of his daggers.

With the quick reflexes of a fighter, she pulled water from a tree, leaving it shriveled, and used it to make a thick wall of ice to block his blow. The dagger left a faint line on her wall of ice, but to my relief, couldn't break through.

With a growl of anger, Kanjou slashed again only to achieve the same result. His top lip rose in anger as he kicked at the wall with his thick, muscular, legs. The ice cracked, and with a smile, he readied himself for another kick. Just as his foot left the ground, Katara dropped to the ground, laying on her back, and used both of her legs to kick at the bottom of the wall that had been left unmarred. His foot connected with the top of the ice at the same moment Katara kicked out the bottom half of the wall. The block shot out at him and collided with his legs.

A look of surprise crossed his face before he fell to the ground, landing on his hands and knees.

I sprang up and rushed to Katara's side, mirroring her fighting stance.

My mind wanted me to run, it threw logic at me and gave me so many convincing reasons why I _should_ run away and never look back. The fact that I might die here pierced at my brain over and over, but one glance at Katara, and I knew I wasn't going anywhere. My vow to keep Katara safe ran through my head like a mantra, Katara _would_ get out of this alive.

"Katara…," I whispered, trying again to convince her to leave, "if anything happens to me, you better get out of here and go back to your friends…"

"No way, I-" she couldn't finish, Kanjou began running towards us again with speed I had never seen before.

Before I could even blink, he grabbed my wrist and kicked my feet out from under me. I landed on my back again, but this time I heard the distinct clank of metal and I almost hit myself for forgetting about my twin dao swords.

I had no more time to think; Kanjou flipped me onto my stomach and dug his knee into my back. In one fluid movement, Kanjou pressed the tip of his dagger into my cheek. He twisted the tip and broke the skin. The pain was nothing compared to the one felt in my neck. A thin line of blood ran down my cheek and down onto my lip.

"Any last words?" Kanjou asked dramatically.

I spit the last of the blood from my mouth and spoke. "Go to hell."

I could almost smell his anger. He pressed the dagger into my cheek again and was about to continue his cutting, when a shuffle of movement caught my attention. Katara drew back her arms and shoe several sharp spheres of ice at Kanjou. He cursed loudly as he was forced to roll off of me.

I sprang to my feet, just as he did, and unsheathed me swords. "Stay over there Katara." I shouted, glancing briefly at her. She nodded.

My attention was brought over to Kanjou again when he withdrew his own two hooked swords.

"Do you remember these?" he asked with a toothy smile as he swept his fingers along the flat of his blade almost lovingly.

I did remember those; in fact, the memory sent shivers down my body. He was an excellent swordsman, fast and agile, he moved purposefully and with malice in his eyes. To have to fight him again… I remained silent and continued to stare at him, hoping to betray none of the fear I felt.

His smile turned into a glare. "If you remember these, then you must remember this as well." With one fluid movement, he reached for the bottom of his shirt and flung it off. There, on his abdomen, was the long, thick, rod like scar I gave him when we first fought. The scar went from just under his arm pit and ran diagonally to just above his hip where it curved slightly upward. I could see his muscles rippling as he tried to restrain his laughter. "Before I kill you, you will receive the same mark."

I stiffened and glared at him. I refuse to have the same mark as him, to see his face in the back of my mind every time I looked at it would kill me.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to relax myself, and once I was as calm as anyone in my situation ought to me, I raised one of my swords to him and smirked in a silent challenge.

Kanjou smiled back. An invitation.

I closed the distance between us and took a spinning swipe at him with a sword, he parried my blow, and when I finished my rotation and came back with another swipe, he blocked it easily. I came at him again and slashed at his now bare chest, and his muscled strained as he struck my sword with one of my hooked ones. The impact jarred my arm and made my teeth rattle.

I grunted and brought my left dao sword to stab at him and brought my right one around to his neck.

Without even raising a sword, he sidestepped and ducked at the same time, like it was nothing.

I panted and growled as I came at him again and again, jab after jab had no effect on him, it was almost like he knew when and where I was going to strike before even I did.

I really didn't want to use my bending; I didn't like to do so when fighting against a nonbender, but what he lacked in bending he made up in everything else. Maybe firebending was the only way to defeat this guy.

I slashed at him again, but this time, a wave of fire came out of my sword like an extension of it. Kanjou sidestepped the strike easily and smiled.

With narrowed eyes, I spun once, fire spitting from the tip of both swords, and created a ring of fire around me. I used all of my concentration to make sure the fire held, so when I opened my eyes again, I was surprised to see Kanjou only a few feet from me standing at the edge of my ring of fire. As quickly as I could, I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply, causing the fire to burn, brighter, stronger, and hotter.

Kanjou jumped back out of reflex, and I smirked. I extended both my arms and pushed out, causing the ring to widen and overtake Kanjou.

He groaned as the skin of his chest blistered. Kanjou's face contorted as he cried out with pain. He struggled to get up, but I didn't want to give him the chance.

I kicked out and sent a wall of flame at him, and he was thrown backward on the impact. Rolling out of the way to avoid another wave of flames, Kanjou sprang to his feet and came at me with his swords again, I slashed out at him, but my swords fell short of their goal because at the last moment, he swerved and ran past me, dropping his hooked swords.

I turned around and saw him heading towards Katara. His hand grasped the handle of a dagger kept in a jeweled sheath at his side.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you get so scared or nervous that you forget everything? For example, and I'm sure this has happened to everyone, when I was twelve, I went to the firebender's academy for boys, and one day I had to give a speech in front of my whole class. When it was my turn, I got up, took one look at my peers, and completely froze. The speech that I had been practicing almost religiously in my head was forgotten. Everything I had worked so hard to remember was gone.

So right now, as he pulled out his dagger, I forgot everything. I forgot my sword skills. I forgot how to fight, and I even forgot my name. The only thing I remembered was her smiling face.

I didn't think, I only acted. Just like I protected Aang from the lightening, I would save Katara from Kanjou.

I did what I had to do. With speed I didn't know I was capable of, I jumped in front of Katara just as the red tinted dagger came down.

At first, nothing happened. I felt no pain, and the forest was eerily silent, and then it all came at me at once.

I heard Katara's high pitched scream and the laugh of Kanjou before I felt the pain. But when it came, I couldn't hold back my scream of agony. Blood soaked through my shirt quickly, causing it to stick to my skin. I stumbled backward and felt Katara against my back. I was on the ground instantly, twitching in agony, gasping for breath.

I had been sliced, cut at, and scarred many times, but the pain from _this_ surpassed them all.

"What a shame." Kanjou cooed. "I wasted my only poisoned dagger on you…"

"Poisoned?" Katara shrieked and dropped to my side.

I didn't say anything, hell; I couldn't even if I wanted to. Every time I opened my mouth, the only thing that came out was blood and screams of pain.

Kanjou looked at the dagger lovingly. "This wasn't meant for you…what a shame." He sighed and threw the now useless dagger at us.

I barely registered it hitting me.

My vision blacked as the pain gradually spread through my chest, slowly, but leaving my body stiff and motionless in its wake. I couldn't move, I could barely breathe, as the poison spread through me. I could only feel the intense pain and hear my pulse beating madly.

The last thing I herd was a scream from Katara, and then I heard nothing.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

My mind went completely blank as Kanjou ran at me with his dagger. I wanted to scream and run, but even with my brain yelling at my legs to move, my muscles stayed frozen.

I could only watch and wait for my death. Maybe if I was lucky, I would die fast, maybe he'd go for my heart and make it painless. Kanjou could at least do that for me.

I closed my eyes, and waited for Kanjou to plunge the dagger into me.

Nothing.

I forced my eyes open again.

Zuko's scent filled my mind as I stared at his head instead of the point of Kanjou's dagger. My mind, slow to react, couldn't figure out why Zuko was standing in front of me, but when a growing pool of red caught my attention, I knew.

A scream escaped my lips as Zuko stumbled backward and bumped into me. I tried to hold him up, but his weight was too much for me. I slid down to the ground along with him, eyes searching his face and only finding surprise and pain in his eyes. His muscled twitched under my hands as he cried out.

"What a shame." I could barely register his voice, the buzz in the back of my head drowned out everything but Zuko. "I wasted my only poisoned dagger on you…"

Wait… I thought, my mind ran through the sentence over and over, trying to comprehend what he was saying. One word finally registered in my mind and I shrieked. "Poisoned?!"

"This wasn't meant for you…" Kanjou stared at Zuko. "What a shame."

Zuko groaned and fell limp in my arms. His eyes searching blindly behind his closed eyelids.

I blinked once. Twice.

I looked at Zuko and kissed his forehead.

"This…" I said, looking at Kanjou, his skin shiny and taunt from the burns. My voice shook as I got to my feet. "Will be your last fight."

"We'll see…" Kanjou said.

I knew I couldn't let Kanjou get to his hooked swords, if he did…I was done for.

With a grunt, I pulled water from another tree and flung the whole of it at him. He expertly dodged it and laughed at me.

I let the water come out if the muddy ground, and brought it around again, being careful not to let the water go for a minute. I made the water come over his head and then crash onto him, but at the last moment he dodged it and rolled out of the way. The water splashed uselessly to the ground. I came at him again and again, trying my hardest to hurt him, but none of my efforts worked. He was able to dodge them all.

My arms began to become heave with tiredness. I knew I couldn't defeat him this way, so I had to think up something fast.

I pulled water from the muddy ground and created a glove around my whole arm. I closed my eyes and concentrated on making the glove thinner and sharper, and when I opened my eyes, they were frozen and as lethal as any sword.

I pictured Zuko in my mind and saw him fighting with his twin dao swords. I came at Kanjou with those images in my mind, mimicking him to the best of my ability, and just like Zuko's sword was an extension of his arms, my own ice swords were literally an extension.

I slashed at him again and again, driving him away from his swords, and with nothing to use for defense, he was forced to back away.

Kanjou pulled his other dagger out of his belt and slashed at me. I used my ice encased arm to block it and smirked when it did no damage.

Just like before, he resorted to brute force. He swept his legs beneath mine, causing me to fall onto my butt. My elbow hit the ground painfully and took my concentration away from maintaining a strong sword. The gloves shattered and melted instantly.

I felt Kanjou's hand on my forehead, and he pushed me down, slamming my head to the ground. The dagger I took from Zuko fell out of its place in my sash and tumbled into view.

Kanjou straddled my hips, oblivious to the dagger laying inches from his knee. "Now, now, now…this is a familiar position. But of course you wouldn't remember, you were unconscious at the time."

Without drawing his attention, I grabbed the dagger.

"This time," he continued, "I think I'll enjoy it a lot more, which is more than I can say for you."

He leaned over me, his face inches from mine, and smiled. In one quick movement, he licked my cheek.

I wanted to gag and scream, but I just grit my teeth as my stomach lurched. My hand gripped the dagger, I pulled it back and plunged it into his chest, right in the middle of his sternum.

His eyebrows furrowed and a brief moment of confusion crossed his face. Kanjou collapsed onto me, limp and unmoving, his blood soaking my dress.

I screamed loudly, anger and sadness engulfing my being. I knew he was dead and my heart ached from the knowledge that I did this to him. I was dirty now, unclean. I struggled desperately to push him off of me, but his weight was too much for me in my weakened state.

Tears stream down my face as I struggled to bend the blood in his body and lift him away from me. I needed to get as far away from him as I could.

My head ached from the impossible strain, and I had to try for several minutes before he even twitched above me. With Zuko's face in my mind, I gave one last mental push and he finally rolled off of me limply.

I rolled onto my stomach and tried to push myself up. My arms shook, but I was able to slowly crawl my way to Zuko with tears obscuring my vision.

I was only a few feet from Zuko when I collapsed. A cry left my lips. I needed to get to him, to make sure he would be alright. I wanted to heal him, save him...but I couldn't even move.

A large crash drew my attention away from Zuko and placed it on a group of people running towards me. My ears went deaf to the world and my vision began to tunnel with black just as Sokka ran towards me with Aang at his heels.

A small sad smile appeared on my lips just before I entered the darkness once again.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

* * *

**Only one more chapter to go!!!!  
**

**Thank you guys for sticking with me for so long.**


	25. Confrontation

**When i finished writing this chapter, I didn't know what to do with myself. I have been working on this story for 11 months...**

**Sequil?  
No. Not enough patience for something like that.  
**

**Future projects?  
I can think of a lot of stories I want to wright, but I have one Christmas present to write first before I can do any of them, and I doubt any of you will ever see it...**

**Dang, this chap is like twice the size as a usual chapter! Please enjoy!**

* * *

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

I've realized that I spend way too much of my time unconscious lately, but I've also realized that it can be nice at times. Like now. I know in the back of my mind that when I wake up from this, I will be in a lot of pain, and I'll have a killer headache, but for now I can use this time to relax and think.

I sat cross legged on a blanket, fingering the soft grass at my feet. Being trapped in your own mind isn't all that bad when all you have to do is think about something you want, and then you'll get it. I imagined a little meadow and then, bam…it appeared.

I could do whatever I wanted here.

I reached down and put my hand over a rock, closed my eyes, willing it to transform, and when I lifted up my hand the rock was now a caterpillar.

The only bad thing about this little dream world, besides the inevitable pain upon waking, is you'll never know when you'll wake up. You also never know what is going to happen next.

With that thought in my head, I wasn't surprised when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see an old Fire Nation man.

I recognized him immediately. As I grew up, I learned about this man, heard his name mentioned with hushed reverence, his likeness hung on tapestries in the palace halls. Thee mans skin hung on his face with deep wrinkles, his eyes empty and angry, his hair pure white. Although he was much older than in his tapestries, I knew him to be my great grandfather Sozen.

I groaned, out of all of the people my mind could have conjured, it had to be the one who started this war.

Sozen took two steps, and he was in front of me, but he did nothing but stare.

"What do you want?" I asked rudely, forsaking all politeness. Hell, it was my consciousness; I could be as rude as I damn well wanted.

His eyes narrowed. "That's what I'm supposed to ask you. You're the one who imagined me"

I closed my eyes and sighed, but when I opened them again, I found that Sozen had been joined by two other men. I recognized one as Avatar Roku.

I knew the third man had to be someone important or else he wouldn't be here with Roku and Sozen.

The man looked ageless. He could be in his thirties or fifties. He was tall, regal, and never before in my life had I been able to say this about a fellow man, but he was handsome. His golden eyes shone with love and wisdom. His black hair was secured at the top of his head with a golden crown, and his lips were tilted up with a smile. A faint glow surrounded him.

"Hello, my child…" he said, love saturating his words.

My eyes narrowed as I searched him for anything that would give his identity away. I needed to know who this man was, it was killing me. I felt as if I had knows that man all of my life, but I couldn't recall his name. Suddenly, a possibility hit me with the blunt force if a hammer to the head. "Agni?" I asked unsurely.

His answering smile was dazzling. I didn't know what I expected our firegod to look like, but this definitely wasn't it. He looked so nice and young, I expected him to stern and intimidating, but this man looked like he could easily be your best friend.

It was a good thing I was sitting down already, because I probably would have fallen over if I hadn't been.

"Am I imagining this, or are all of you really here?" I asked uncertainly.

Agni and Roku looked at each other and smiled, while Sozen continued to glare. "That is for you to decide, Zuko." Roku said.

Agni looked at me. "We have a matter to discuss with you that is of great importance."

I glanced between Agni and Roku, completely ignoring Sozen. "What is it?" I asked quietly, afraid that I screwed up somehow and they were here to put me straight. Maybe after they yelled at me, Sozen was going to beat me up. I shivered, if there was anyone I wouldn't want to get yelled at by, it was these two.

Agni smiled at me. "As you know, you're going to be the next Fire Lord."

I stood up quickly. "No, I can't possibly. I was going to have Iroh take the throne. I'm not ready!!" I half yelled, half begged, and then froze. Crap, I might have just raised my voice at the real Agni.

Roku looked at me for a second. "You might feel that way now, but although I hold your uncle with very high esteem, you are meant to take the throne."

"We would not have appeared in front of you if we weren't certain you were the best thing for your country." Roku countered.

"I-I don't know. I'm only a teenager." I sputtered.

"You may be a teenager, Zuko," Agni stepped up to me and reached up to undo the crown that adorned his topknot. "But you were forced to grow up, making you wise beyond your years." He slipped his crown off, his black hair tumbling to his shoulders.

I nearly died of shock as Agni presented the crown to me. I stared at the delicate, golden Fire Nation crown in awe. It was larger and more intricate than my father's crown, and much more graceful looking. The style was also different from my father's, it had golden circles that fanned out and reached around to the back of your head. Engraved in the Fire Nation insignia were two dragons, circling each other in an endless dance.

I looked from the crown, to Agni's smiling face, and back to the crown again, unsure of what to do. I even looked at Roku to see if he was shocked and appalled that Agni would present such a gift to me, but he just smiled and nodded at me in approval.

"I-I can't-" I began, but was silenced by the look Agni gave to me.

Slowly, I reached out and he placed the crown in my hands, a shock jolted through my body as soon as the crown touched me, but it stopped as soon as it began and was replaced by a feeling of warmth. It gave me strength and assurance that everything would work out.

The crown was weightless in my grasp. "Thank you…" I was finally able to whisper after a few seconds.

Agni's face glowed. "Take this and remember, you have my blessing and I will always be with you. Don't for get that you will always have the help of your friends as well."

"You will make an excellent Fire Lord." Roku clasped me on the shoulder.

"There's just one thing I don't understand then…" I looked at both of them. "Why is he here?" I indicated Sozen.

Roku laughed as he noticed him for the first time, and Agni smiled. "That is a question you should ask yourself. We did not summon him." Agni said sweetly.

I looked at Sozen's angry face and knew that I should say something to him. "I will be a better Fire Lord than you in every single way." I said with conviction.

Sozen looked at me and smiled. A second later, he blurred into someone else.

He was me. I stared at my mirror image before it slowly vanished from my sight.

I turned to Agni and Roku with a satisfied smile on my face. "Thank you."

They nodded their heads. "You need to wake up now; you have friends that are worried sick about you."

"On no…" I gasped. "What do I do about Aang? I'm sure he's going to kill me." I looked at them for help.

Agni sighed good naturedly with a smile. "He will forgive you, and if he doesn't, I'll have Roku and Kyoshi have a talk with him."

I laughed. "Thank you again."

"Wake up, Zuko." Agni repeated.

I closed my eyes and clenched them shut, willing myself to wake up. I knew it was working when I started to feel weak and drowsy, a dull pain started on my chest and leg.

My eyelids were heavy as I slowly lifted them. My vision was blurred as I looked up at what seemed to be blobs of color. As I tried to focus my vision, my head began throbbing, and the rest of my quickly followed suite. I groaned loudly, not caring if anyone heard.

"He's awake!" I heard Katara's voice yell. A chorus of "Finally!!" and "What?" rang out from the rest of the gang.

I opened my eyes again and they slowly unblurred.

I was laying on my back at our campsite, covered in blankets, with Katara hanging over me checking my pulse and temperature with her hands. "Are you ok?" She asked. There were tears in her eyes and dark circles under them, but to me, she looked like the most beautiful women I had ever laid eyes on.

I moaned again, my headache barely allowing me to speak, I settled for nodding my head instead.

She choked out a wet laugh and put her hand on my cheek, rubbing circles with her thumb. I leaned into her touch and smiled despite the pain I was in. I tried to sit up, but she pushed me down easily and scowled. "You had us really worried… I missed you."

My brows furrowed as I tried to sit up again, but Katara's hands stopped me. "How long have I been out?"

Katara frowned. "Three days."

"What?" I yelled, but groaned as my head throbbed harder.

"The poison was something I've never seen before, I've had some training with how to cure most poisons with herbs, but I couldn't make an antidote for this one. I've been trying to heal you with water this whole time, and I even used bloodbending, and I think it worked..." She tried to assure me.

I groaned and clenched my eyes shut.

"There's one more thing…" She hesitated. "The poison didn't let me heal your wounds; they will have to do so naturally…That means you'll have a scar on your chest. I'm sorry, I remember how angry you looked when he told you he'd give you a scar like his, and now you have it anyways…"

"It's not the same, Katara; I got this one saving you. This is more like a badge of honor than anything else." I mumbled.

She nodded solemnly.

"So, what happened to Kanjou?" I asked her uncertainly. I knew he must have lost, or else we both would be dead.

In one second, her face crumpled into agony. I immediately shot up and held her in my arms as she began to cry. My body shook from the excruciating pain in my chest from sitting up, but I continued holding her anyway. With a trembling hand, I stroked her hair and whispered to her that everything was fine. I continued just to stroke her hair and waited until she was ready to speak again, aware that the whole gang was watching me with shock.

"I-I…he came at me, he was going to kill me, and I had to-" she sobbed into the crook of my neck.

I took her shoulders and brought her in front of me so that she had to look at me. I brushed a tear from her cheek and kissed her lightly on her lips. "Its okay, Katara, you can tell me." I whispered.

She nodded and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I killed him! I killed a man…" she rasped out in a shaky voice. "I had no choice! I've never killed someone before…" she collapsed back into me.

I knew there was nothing I could tell her to comfort her. She would always remember this, although I've never killed a man before, I've known people who had, and they never totally got over it. "It's alright, Katara, you had no choice. If you didn't kill him, we both would be dead. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But I killed him, what would my mom be saying right now?!" she yelled and began crying some more.

"She'd be saying that she's glad you're alive." I reasoned with her.

She nodded weakly into my shoulder and continued to cry. I did my best to soothe her, but she was in shock and there wasn't much I could do. I felt horrible that while she was in so much pain, I was unconscious and having weird dreams about Agni. I kissed the top of her head and whispered that I loved her. This was all I could do.

Eventually, her sobs began to slow and her shaking ceased. "I'm tired Zuko…I haven't slept for three days."

My heart clenched. "Go to sleep Katara, I'm fine now, you can rest." I assured her although I felt anything but fine.

She nodded and snuggling into my chest, apparently forgetting about my wound. I ground my teeth and let her, I knew she was already half asleep, so it was forgivable to forget something like that.

She fell asleep quickly and her sleep was so deep that she didn't wake as I shifted her out of my arms and into the makeshift bed that they made for me.

"Ah!" I cried in pain as I tried to stand up and go to the group.

"Come on, Zuko…" Iroh's voice was right beside me; he held my arm and helped bring to a semi-standing position so I could avoid using my bad leg. Using him to support most of my weight, I slowly hobbled out way to where the Avatar and his friends were sitting silently and waiting for us.

Everyone had their eyes on me as I sat down next to Iroh. I had to suppress a groan as my chest and leg burned from sitting. I remained silent, not wanting to be the first one to break the silence.

Everyone just looked at me. Sokka looked at me strangely, his lips in a thin line. Toph smiled at me like she was happy I was back, and Aang stared blankly at me, a detached expression on his face.

Surprisingly, it was Sokka who spoke first. "My sister hasn't left your side this entire time, did you know that? I don't think she slept at all for three days. She didn't even tell us exactly what happened."

I remained silent, not sure of what to say so I was relieved when he continued. "If- this is hard to say…so give me a moment…I -damn this is hard- I think she really likes you…"

Aang looked at him in surprise. This was obviously not what he thought would happen.

"If she chooses you, I won't stand in her way. While you were unconscious…well the gods know I haven't seen her that heartbroken since mom died, but don't think I'll just stand back and let you do whatever you want with her. I _will_ be watching you."

This could have been a really tender moment if the circumstances were better and there wasn't a death threat attached to the end of it.

"I'm just glad you're back, I was bored without you!" Toph threw her hands up and laughed. Just like that, the depressing aura over our camp vanished save for the small cloud over Aang's head.

Iroh placed his hand on my shoulder. He didn't need to say anything; I knew that he was glad I was back and alive. "I'll make some tea."

I watched him walk away and then turned back to the group. Sokka had turned his attention to Toph and was chatting soberly with her.

"Here, drink this." Iroh put a cup in front of me and took a seat at my side.

"What is it?" I asked him, he knew which my favorite tea was, but this was definitely not it.

"Tea." Iroh answered.

"I know that, but what kind?" I took a whiff. I could smell the herbs and spices, but there was something else, something familiar smelling, it was sweet and intoxicating.

"It's a special blend; we used to give it to soldiers after a battle. It will make you feel better." Iroh told me with a smile.

I knew something was weird with the tea, but I was in too much pain to put up a struggle. Besides, I trust Iroh, the man knows his tea, and if he told me that this tea would make my fly I would probably believe him. I tipped my head back ad poured the hot tea into my mouth all at once. The tea only had contact with my tongue for a few seconds, but I was able to tell what gave off that smell instantly. Fire Nation wine.

I considered spitting it out, but decided against it. Iroh told me this would make me feel better, and I sure as hell wanted to.

"Where did you get wine out here?" I asked once the wine settled in my stomach. I immediately felt warmer and some of the pain ebbed away. To show that I wasn't complaining about the wine, I held my cup out for another. "And this time, give it to me straight."

Iroh chuckled and pulled the rest of the wine and a jug out of a bag that hung around his shoulder. "I have my ways…" He said cryptically.

With a smile, he poured me a generous amount and handed it back. I smiled as memories of the Fire Nation palace flitted through my head. When I was young I used to sneak into the wine cellar and try to steal some wine. Iroh caught me once and let me have as much as I wanted. I thought he was the coolest uncle in the world until I got sick afterwards. I rarely drank any alcohol after that.

"Can I try some?" Sokka was by our side with a smile on his face

"No way." Iroh laughed.

"Why not? Zuko got some!" Sokka said childishly.

"You're too young; you won't be able to handle the wine." Iroh said with a raised eyebrow.

Sokka threw his hands in the air. "I'm the same age as Zuko, and I've had wine before."

"But Zuko is a Fire Bender, and Fire Benders burn off most of the alcohol before it has the time to dissolve into our bloodstream. Our nation's wine is much stronger than anything that you have tried."

I smiled and took a small sip. "Iroh, you let me have some when I was very young," I winked, "Let him have some."

"Ok…" Iroh told him, catching on. "But don't say I didn't warn you…" Iroh poured and passed him a cup.

Sokka sniffed the contents of his cup and scoffed. Sokka threw his head back and took a big gulp. "Oh, this is nothing." He laughed and chugged the rest of the cup.

I stared in open mouthed shock at him and waited to see what would happen in anticipation. Sokka's eyes unfocused and then focused again. "Whoa…that was-" Sokka froze mid sentence and tipped sideways where he fell asleep with a snore.

"Wow, he lasted longer than I thought he would." I chuckled awkwardly, aware that Aang was still staring at me.

Toph and Iroh both began to laugh, but they were interrupted by a sharp voice. "Zuko…I need to talk to you." Everyone that was still conscious turned their head to the source of the voice. It was Aang.

I gulped and looked around for help, but received none.

"Come on, Toph; let's get some food for dinner." Iroh told her.

She opened her mouth to complain, but Iroh gave her one of his stern you-better-do-what-I-say looks and she immediately quieted. "Whoa…I couldn't see that look, but I sure felt it." She shivered and got up to leave.

When Aang and I were alone, I hung my head and waited for him to yell at me or hit me. But nothing happened. I heard no movement, and he didn't say a word.

I plucked my dignity off of the floor, took a big gulp of wine to ebb the pain away, and then met his eyes.

"Why?" Aang asked, his voice cracked.

He didn't have to elaborate. "I couldn't tell you, Aang, we knew you would be hurt."

"So you thought it would be better if you waited?" His voice picked up volume, but he stayed seated, obviously restraining himself.

"Yes, we did." I said, not wanting to lie to him.

"How could you think that's better?! You knew I loved her, she was mine! I asked you about you two, and you lied to me! You lied to me! How would you?!" Aang yelled angrily.

"Aang!" I yelled and he stopped out of surprise, obviously he wasn't expecting me to raise my voice at him. "This is why!"

"I don't know what you mean." Aang yelled back at me.

"You are the most immature kid I know, you think that just because you love her, she has to love you back. Yeah sure, you like her, but have you ever thought about how she felt? She's not yours, hell, she's not even mine! She doesn't belong to anyone. Don't you get it?" This I said in truth, Katara was like her element in every way, she was like the ocean, and she didn't belong to anyone.

I took a breath and continued knowing full well that I could be signing me death warrant.

"You're the Avatar for Agni's sake, you need to stop thinking about a girl and start thinking about the world! I'm going to be Fire Lord one day," I told him with a smile, remembering my strange dream, "And I don't want you to hate me for taking her from you. Grow up!"

Aang looked shocked, but that emotion soon turned into anger. He gripped his staff as he readied himself to fly away.

"Oh yeah, run away. Do you remember what happened last time you did that?!"

Aang froze, and I knew I hit him low. "Are you blaming all of that on me?" He asked, his voice dangerously low.

"As a matter of fact I am." I sneered and struggled to get up. My body ached, but I was not backing down until I got my point into his thick skull.

Aang growled. "This is just as much your fault as it is mine. If you would have told me sooner-"

"You would have done the exact same thing, and you know it." I chugged the rest of the wine and felt much better. "Stop trying to make yourself seem less guilty, I know I shouldn't have kept him a secret from you, but you need to stop and think about why we did that! We knew you would go crazy!"

Aang's eyebrows furrowed. "We?" his voice lost some anger.

"Yes!" I yelled with no mercy. "We, meaning Katara and I. She didn't want you to know either. _We_ knew you would be crushed and _we_ knew you would do something stupid. And guess what? You did!"

"Katara wanted you to keep this from me too?" He asked.

"Yes. She. Did." I growled.

"But why?" he questioned quietly.

"Because she knew you liked her, but she didn't like you back."

"Oh..." And in one second, he went from an angry Avatar, to a twelve year old boy.

I continued glaring at him, but guilt slowly started to replace my anger. "Damn, I'm sorry Aang. I'm really sorry."

I thought about trying to comfort him, but I knew he wouldn't want me to.

"This really entirely all my fault…" he said quietly.

"Not totally." I backpedaled. "I shouldn't have gone after Kanjou, it's my fault too."

"No its not…you wouldn't have needed to do that if it weren't for me running away." He told me and used his staff to lean on.

"I'm at fault too." I took a step towards him but then stopped.

"No you're not. It's all true. Its-" Aang choked back a sob and a tear ran down his cheek as he began to cry. "Don't apologize."

I groaned to myself, feeling horrible about yelling at him so much. I took another step towards him, and when he didn't glare at me, I walked until I was standing next to him. I did everything slowly, acting like he was a wild animal and could attack me at any second. Slowly, I reached out and put my arm around his shoulders awkwardly and pulled him into a light hug. He stiffened, but then relaxed into my hug and continued to cry.

I didn't know what I was about this kid that made you want to make him happy, but I couldn't resist it.

I let go of him and went into a habit of mine that I picked up from many years at sea with Iroh. I offered him tea. "Here, I'll make you some Jasmine tea; it'll make you feel better."

Aang chuckled pathetically. "Ok, thanks…"

"And Aang?" I asked. "Do you forgive me?"

Aang looked away. "It will take some time to get used to seeing you two together, but I think I'll manage. I forgive you."

"I want to be good friends, okay?" I asked, hoping it wouldn't get too weird around us.

Aang looked at me and smiled. "Okay."

"Good, now let's get you some tea." I patted his bald head, and he swatted away my hand with a wet laugh.

His face was a little red and puffy as I handed him a cup of tea a few minutes later.

"Is Katara mad at me?" Aang asked.

"No, she's not." I told honestly.

"Should I apologize to her?" he asked with worry lacing his voice.

I smiled at him. This was good, by him asking me for advice, it meant he trusted me still. "No, you don't need to. Just make it up to her by not being weird around us."

Aang sniffed and nodded.

A groan brought my attention back to where Katara lay sleeping. I stood up and limped my way over to her side just as her eyes opened.

"Do you feel better?" I asked her quietly.

"What happened?" she asked, dazed and tired.

"You fell asleep." I told her with a smile.

She groaned sleepily. "Did anything happen while I was asleep?"

I glanced back at Aang and he nodded. "Iroh and Toph went out to get us some food, Sokka is…uh…sleeping…and I had a talk with Aang."

Her eyes widened. "You talked with Aang?"

"Yeah." I almost added that it wasn't much of a talk, considering we almost killed each other, but I stopped myself.

"Are you two going to be okay?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, I think we will." I smiled and helped her sit up.

"How are you feeling?" Katara asked, always thinking of others when she should be thinking of herself.

"I feel much better thanks to Iroh's tea."

"Oh good." Katara yawned and smiled up at me.

Just then, Iroh and Toph walked back into camp carrying berries and an unidentifiable animal carcass. Iroh looked at me and I knew they had overheard everything.

Katara got up to make dinner, but Iroh's words stopped her. "Stay, I'll cook, you need your rest."

I gave her a quick peck on her cheek, trying to be mindful that Aang was still here, and squeezed her hand. "Just lay back down and rest."

"I can't possibly rest!" she yelled. "At least let me do something, how about I mend one of your shirts. There's bound to be one shirt with a hole in it." I was about to reject the idea, but she continued. "Let me do this, Zuko, I'll do it sitting down if that'll make it better."

I sighed dejectedly, I could never say no to her. She would be my downfall. "Ok, ok…" I got up awkwardly, the wound in my leg not allowing my muscles to move easily. I sent a silent thank you to Iroh for the wine; although I still hurt just about everywhere, I would be dying of pain right now if it weren't for him.

I found my bag thrown into a pile of everyone else's belongings and had to take a second to pry it out from under Sokka's green purse. With a grunt, it came loose and I was able to open it without further incidents.

When I peered inside, I stopped short. There was an unfamiliar wooden box in my bag. I pulled it out and weighed it in my hands, maybe it was a get well gift from Iroh or something. I frowned, if it was another tea set I was going to chuck it at him. I pried open the lid and froze.

Inside the box was the crown of Agni.

I snapped the lid closed and took a deep breath, freaked out beyond means. I was sure that it had been a dream, I thought that that when I got older, this would be a good story to tell my children about how I had a crazy dream that I met Agni, but now…

I opened the box one last time and peeked inside, waiting for it to morph into a tea set, but it didn't. I touched the fine gold of the crown gently and thought about putting it on and showing it to everyone. With a smile, I put the box back in my bag gently and took a few steps back.

The time would come when I would need this, but that time isn't now.

I swept my gaze to all the others, finally lingering on Aang, who seemed much more cheery after our talk although his face would break into a sad one every once in a while.

The world needed the Avatar, and Aang needed me. So to save the world, I'd help him to be the best that he could be.

I heard Toph laugh along with something Iroh said and I smiled at them. There was something in the back of my mind, a question that I needed to ask Toph. "Hey Toph…" she looked over at me. "How did you keep Sokka from following us?"

Toph looked over at the sleeping Sokka and smiled. "It was easy, I buried him up to his neck in dirt, and the guy couldn't move an inch."

Toph's brow furrowed. "It was weird…he kept mentioning something about how this stuff always happens to him, and he said 'where's a moose lion cub when you need him'…whats a Foo Foo Cuddly Poops?"

Off to my side, I heard Katara snort in laughter.

I smiled at Katara. This was the girl that I almost gave my life for, and I knew that although I might not own her, she definitely owned me, my heart, and my soul. I loved her and always will.

One day, when the war is over, she would be my wife and help me bring peace to the world…together.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

* * *

**

**Zuko was really close to getting a different gift from Agni...yup, it was either a crown or a muffin basket. I hope I made the right choice...lol.  
**

**I'd like to thank everyone for all of the support they have shown me throughout this story! I am very grateful! I cant believe I wasn't even going to post this story!  
**

**A special thank you goes out to my beta who constantly yells at me about my grammar mistakes and spelling issues. Thanks for being honest and brutal when needed, and encouraging when I wanted to quit. If I hadn't already payed you (Not money ppl, I wrote her slash as a gift.), I would be tempted to give you something. I'll see you at school on Monday, I love you!**

**p.s.- The only reason Zuko survived last chapter is because VioletCrystals said so. Lol, jk. I cant believe some of you thought I would kill him! I would have given a character death warning if I was going to kill anyone important off.  
**


End file.
